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Snap July 4 Election Leaves Pension Reform In Disarray

The government's decision to call a snap general election for July 4 has left the U.K.'s pension sector in limbo, experts say, with uncertainty over whether the next administration will continue with an ambitious reform program.
December 13, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

This past week in London has seen a group of franchise operators hit Vodafone with a £120 million ($151 million) claim for allegedly imposing commission cuts, green energy tycoon Dale Vince pursue another libel action against the publisher of the Daily Mail, and parcel delivery giant Yodel face a claim by an investor that helped save it from collapse earlier in the year.
December 13, 2024
Gov't Urged To Go Further On Local Pension Reforms

The U.K. government's proposed plan to pool assets in the highly fragmented Local Government Pension Scheme has a good motive but requires more detail to ensure the floated reforms work successfully, the consultancy Lane Clark & Peacock said Friday.
December 13, 2024
Hopes Rise For Law Change As Pension Lifeboat Delays Levy

The pension lifeboat fund has pushed back until January an announcement on its annual levy for the next financial year, amid speculation that long-awaited legislative change could be on the horizon.
December 13, 2024
Eversheds Steers £210M Transfer Deal For Superfund Clara

Britain's only defined benefit superfund has carried out a £210 million ($265 million) pension liability transfer with a property management company, in a deal steered by Eversheds Sutherland, Osborne Clarke, Macfarlanes and CMS.
December 13, 2024
Lloyd's Trade Body Wants Reporting Burden Eased More

A Lloyd's of London trade body has said that the specialist market has made good progress in its bid to reduce the compliance and reporting obligations for participants this year — but it must take more action 2025 to "fully realize" the benefits of easing the burden.
December 13, 2024
Pensions Pro Wins Whistleblower Appeal, But Was Fairly Fired

A pensions administrator has convinced an appeals tribunal that a Scottish government agency wrongly penalized him for blowing the whistle on problems with a retirement savings plan, but he could not prove that the decision to sack him was unfair.
December 12, 2024
Insurer Fights £400K Moldy Beef Payout On Appeal

A British insurer launched its appeal Thursday to avoid paying a meat producer's claim over 100 tons of moldy beef, arguing that the storage company it insured breached its policy terms.
December 12, 2024
BoE Probes Business Exposure To Crypto-Assets

The Bank of England's regulatory arm said Thursday it is asking the firms it oversees to detail their current and expected future exposure to crypto-assets as it looks to "calibrate" its oversight.
December 12, 2024
BoE Bolsters Liquidity Reporting For Life Insurers

The Bank of England has set out new rules on life insurers overreporting their liquidity positions, in a bid to better monitor the sector following the liability-driven investment crisis two years ago.
December 12, 2024
More £1B-Plus Deals Forecast For 2025 Pensions Market

The market for defined benefit retirement savings plans offloading their pension liabilities to insurers will "remain strong" in 2025, with more deals in excess of £1 billion ($1.3 billion) expected, Standard Life has said.
December 12, 2024
Spain Can't Enforce €855M Oil Spill Award Against Insurers

Spain has failed in its latest attempt to enforce an €855 million ($898 million) Spanish judgment against maritime insurers over a huge oil spill off its coast, as an appeals court found on Thursday that it was prevented from doing so by English arbitration.
December 12, 2024
FCA Floats New Guidance Rules To Support Pension Savers

The financial watchdog said on Thursday that it is consulting on new rules that it hopes will allow providers of pension plans to offer better support to workers saving for retirement.
December 11, 2024
MoD Loses Bid To Redo Army Reservist's Pension Bias Case

A Scottish tribunal has declined to reconsider a ruling that the Ministry of Defence's refusal to let a retired army reserve officer join the armed forces pension plan left him worse off than full-time military personnel.
December 11, 2024
CMS Guides Just Group's £17M Pension Scheme Deal

Just Group on Wednesday said it has taken on £17 million ($21.6 million) worth of retirement savings liabilities from an unnamed pension scheme in a deal guided by law firm CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP, marking the latest transaction signed by the company this year.
December 11, 2024
Utmost Group All Clear To Acquire Rival Insurer Lombard

Utmost Group PLC said Wednesday that it has received all necessary regulatory approvals to complete its acquisition of rival insurer Lombard International Assurance Holdings SARL.
December 11, 2024
Hogan Lovells Steers £370M Pension Deal For Hays

Recruitment company Hays Group PLC has offloaded £370 million ($472 million) of its U.K. pension liabilities to Pension Insurance Corp. PLC, in a deal steered by Hogan Lovells International LLP, Slaughter and May and Addleshaw Goddard LLP.
December 11, 2024
Insurance Consolidators Looking Abroad As UK M&A Dries Up

British insurance consolidators are looking abroad for new acquisition targets as a result of fewer viable targets in the U.K., a transaction consultancy said.
December 11, 2024
Linklaters-Led Orsted To Sell Wind Farm Stake For $1.6B

Danish multinational energy company Orsted said Wednesday that it has agreed to sell a 50% stake in an offshore wind farm in the South China Sea to Taiwanese insurer Cathay Life Insurance for approximately 11.6 billion Danish kroner ($1.6 billion).
December 11, 2024
Gov't Urged To Carefully Prioritize Regulatory Reforms

The British government must prioritize a "logical sequence" of regulatory reforms that most benefit consumers and improve economic growth instead of introducing changes all at once, the insurer Aegon said Wednesday.
December 11, 2024
6 Firms Guide Nippon Life's $8.2B Resolution Life Acquisition

Japanese life insurer Nippon Life said Wednesday that it has agreed to buy the remaining 77% stake in holding group Resolution Life that it does not already own for $8.2 billion.
December 10, 2024
High Car Insurance Keeping 2.6M From Driving In UK

The soaring cost of car insurance is keeping 2.6 million drivers who are unable to afford the price off of the roads in the U.K., statistics published by Citizens Advice on Tuesday show.
December 10, 2024
Dorsey & Whitney-Led UK Insurance Co. To Buy US Claims Biz

The Davies insurance group said it has agreed to acquire a U.S. insurance claims company, in a deal guided by Dorsey & Whitney LLP and The Law Offices of Steven D. Rubin APC, to strengthen its presence in North America.
December 10, 2024
Cybersecurity Firm Launches Legal Expenses Insurance

British cybersecurity firm M2 Recovery unveiled a new "after the event" legal expenses policy on Tuesday, expanding its crypto-insurance services to assist individuals seeking to recover stolen digital assets.
December 10, 2024
Regulations Halt Pension Transfers 'Needlessly,' Adviser Says

Four out of five pension transfers have been halted either for an unknown reason or because they involved potentially low-risk overseas investments, a financial adviser said.
December 10, 2024
FCA Will Support Growth But Not 'Light Touch' Regulation

The Financial Conduct Authority said on Tuesday that it will not return to the "light touch" regulation from before the 2008 financial crisis but is committed to responsible risk-taking to support the Labour government's goal of boosting economic growth.

Editor's Picks

Top Court Ruling In 'Whiplash' Test Case Could Hit Premiums

Personal injury claimants could get higher payouts from their motor insurance as a result of a test case ruling at Britain's highest court on Tuesday, although analysts warn that insurers could respond with higher premiums to cover the cost of bigger claims.
FCA Begins Crackdown On Poor-Value Insurance Products

The move by the Financial Conduct Authority to restrict sales of guaranteed asset protection insurance is a sign of a faster approach to market intervention, and could lead the regulator to scrutinize other underperforming products, consultants say.
Post-Election UK Pension Changes Could Be In The Fine Print

Regulatory lawyers are not expecting radical overhaul in pension policies if the government changes after this year's general election. But lawyers say that signals in the opposition Labour Party's policy language could hint at possible shifts in investment priorities for retirement savings.

Expert Analysis

Hawaii Climate Insurance Case Is Good News For Energy Cos.

The Hawaii Supreme Court's recent ruling in a dispute between an oil company and its insurers, holding that reckless conduct in the context of activities that can cause climate harms is covered by liability policies, will likely be viewed by energy companies as a positive development, say attorneys at Fenchurch Law.
The EU AI Act's Impact On Global Financial Regulation

The European Union’s new Artificial Intelligence Act, representing lawmakers’ first comprehensive attempt to regulate AI and giving special attention to the financial services sector, hopes to influence global legal and regulatory frameworks to maintain access to the EU market, say lawyers at Goodwin.
FCA Survey Results Reveal Rise In Nonfinancial Misconduct

After a Financial Conduct Authority survey recently reported a significant rise in nonfinancial misconduct, there are a number of preventive steps firms should take to create a healthy workplace environment and mitigate the risk of increased regulatory scrutiny, say lawyers at WilmerHale.
FCA's Broad Proposals Aim To Protect Customer Funds

The Financial Conduct Authority’s proposed changes to payments firms’ safeguarding requirements, with enhanced recordkeeping and fund segregation, seek to bolster existing regulatory provisions, but by introducing a statutory trust concept to cover customers’ assets, represent a set of onerous rules, says Matt Hancock at Greenberg Traurig.
Modernizing UK Trade Settlement Standard: The Road Ahead

Andrew Tsang and Tom Bacon at BCLP consider the rationale and challenges of a potential U.K. trade settlement acceleration, part of an initiative to modernize the financial market infrastructure, and suggest that incorporating distributed ledger technology as a synchronized recording system would facilitate the move.
A Look At UK, EU And US Cartel Enforcement Trends

The European Union, U.K. and U.S. competition agencies' recently issued joint statement on competition risks in generative artificial intelligence demonstrates increased cross-border collaboration on cartel investigations, meaning companies facing investigations in one jurisdiction should anticipate related investigations in other jurisdictions, say lawyers at Latham & Watkins.
What Green Claims Directive Proposal Means For Businesses

With the European Union’s recent adoption of a general approach to the proposed Green Claims Directive, which will regulate certain environmental claims and likely be finalized next year, companies keen to publicize their green credentials have even more reason to tread carefully, say Marcus Navin-Jones and Juge Gregg at Crowell & Moring.
EU Reports Signal Greenwashing Focus For Financial Sector

Reports from the European Supervisory Authorities on enforcement of sustainability information, plus related guidance issued by the European Securities and Markets Authority, represent a fundamental change in how businesses must operate to maintain integrity and public trust, say Amilcare Sada and Matteo Fanton at A&O Shearman.
Embedding Consumer Duty: 6 Areas Firms Should Prioritize

The Financial Conduct Authority has repeatedly emphasized that complying with the Consumer Duty is not a tick-box exercise but an ongoing responsibility, so firms need to show that the duty is at the heart of their practices by staying compliant in areas from cultural change to customer vulnerability, say Nicola Higgs and Becky Critchley at Latham.
Insuring Lender's Baseball Bet Leads To Major League Dispute

In RockFence v. Lloyd's, a California federal court seeks to define who qualifies as a professional baseball player for purposes of an insurance coverage payout, providing an illuminating case study of potential legal issues arising from baseball service loans, say Marshall Gilinsky and Seán McCabe at Anderson Kill.
What Steps Businesses Can Take After CrowdStrike Failure

Following last month’s global Microsoft platform outage caused by CrowdStrike’s failed security software update, businesses can expect complex disputes over liability resulting from multilayered agreements and should look to their various insurance policies for cover despite losses not stemming from a cyberattack, says Daniel Healy at Brown Rudnick.
What To Expect From Labour's Pension Schemes Bill

The Labour government’s recently announced Pension Schemes Bill, outlining key policy areas affecting the retirement savings sector, represents a positive step forward for both defined contribution scheme members and defined benefit superfunds, but there are some missing features, says Sonya Fraser at Arc Pensions.
What EU Opinion May Mean For ESG Product Classification

The recently issued European Supervisory Authority opinion on the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation offers key recommendations, including revising the definition of sustainable investments and making principal adverse impacts consideration mandatory, that could sway the European Commission’s final approach to product classification, say lawyers at Debevoise.
Insurance Rulings Show Court Hesitancy To Fix Policy Errors

Two recent Court of Appeal insurance decisions highlight that policyholders can only overcome policy drafting errors and claim coverage if there is a very obvious mistake, emphasizing courts' reluctance to rewrite contract terms that are capable of enforcement, says Aaron Le Marquer at Stewarts.
EU Investment Fund Standards Offer Welcome Clarity

The European Commission’s recently published regulatory technical standards for long-term investments, which granted managers greater flexibility with respect to open-ended European long-term investment funds, should help managers active in the space navigate the mandatory liquidity requirements for long-term investment funds, say Zac Mellor-Clark and Nishkaam Paul at Fried Frank.