On 20 January 2020 the FCA published a Dear CEO Letter to Authorised Fund Managers (AFMs). The letter is directed at AFMs that predominantly directly manage mainstream investments, or advise on mainstream investments, excluding wealth managers and financial advisers. The letter outlined the FCA’s supervision priorities for those firms, and the FCA will expect firms to take appropriate action. Asset Management Firms (AMFs) may also be asked to take part in work related to these…

The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA“) has successfully applied to the Upper Tribunal to strike out an appeal made by P.F. International Limited (“P.F International“), against the FCA’s variations of the Company’s regulatory permissions, due to its breaches of lending rules.…

Brexit Day has come and gone. The Big Ben Bongs (try saying that after a few glasses of English sparkling wine) have sounded and Britain has broken the shackles of the European Union and entered a new era of free trade deals, blue passports and control of our borders. If this means paying a bit more for Chablis and camembert and waiting in line longer on our return from Marbella, these are small prices to…

The English Court has now made a clear ruling; “I consider that cryptoassets such as Bitcoin are property“, Bryan J concludes in his judgment in AA v Persons Unknown. The Court has granted another interim injunction over Bitcoin, this time held in an account of a cryptocurrency exchange after it had been transferred to the exchange as part of a cyber-attack on a Canadian insurance company.…

Last week, the Court prevented two unregulated introducers and their directors (the “Defendants“) from seeing documents linked to an investigation by the FCA into pensions’ providers and financial providers that did business with the Defendants. The Defendants are currently on trial in the High Court and stand accused of having given unauthorised and misleading advice about retirement investments to consumers.…

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme’s (“FSCS“) levy for management expenses will increase by nearly 5% to £78.2 million, for the period 2020/21. The FSCS will also receive an unlevied contingency reserve of £5 million.…

Litigation surrounding film finance schemes continues to rumble on in the High Court.  Earlier this month, the High Court in Barness v Ingenious Media Ltd [2019] EWHC 3299 (Ch) granted applications by two banks Coutts and Natwest (“Banks“) to strike out a number of lender claims in a case that is part of the “Ingenious litigation”.…