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Lloyd's confirms that there is no movement in the Solvency II timetable
For the avoidance of any doubt Lloyd's confirmed (yesterday) that the current timetable for both managing agents and Lloyd's still applies.
Read moreWomen wanted: FRC and ABI want greater diversity on boards
Just 14 per cent of directors – executive and non-executive – of Britain’s 100 biggest companies are women.
Read moreThere is no escape - collecting cross border tax
On 16 March 2010 the EU introduced Council Directive 2010/24/EU which deals with the mutual assistance across EU member states for the recovery of tax claims.
Read moreAll aboard the causation bandwagon...
Like the proverbial buses that eventually arrive in pairs, at a time when there has been much controversy about the issue of causation
Read moreUK self-assesses anti-bribery controls as part of UN review
The UK has now published a self-assessment of its anti-bribery controls as part of a UN review intended to evaluate the UK's compliance with its obligations as a signatory to the UN Convention against Corruption.
Read moreFighting the cause for causation...
In response to my press release about a proposal to do away with the law of causation from the financial services sector (on which Robbie Constance commented in more detail)
Read moreSRA Handbook - a slim volume of new rules for solicitors?
In 1974 the Law Society published a slim volume entitled "A guide to the professional conduct of solicitors."
Read morePersonal liability for directors – No escape from the taxman
One of the criticisms that is often made of the UK's complex insolvency legislation is that it is too easy for the directors of a company to put it into liquidation or administration, 'dump' the company's debts and then effectively start the same business again under the guise of a new company.
Read moreWhich will happen first - the end of the FSA or the introduction of Solvency II?
The FSA's revised implementation assumption that Solvency II will not come into force for firms until 1 January 2014 is a belated acceptance of delay in the negotiation of the Omnibus Directive and the European legislation which had been known in Brussels for months.
Read moreThe missing link: FSA wants strict liability by disapplying the law of causation
The FSA has now floated the idea of enshrining in statute what we have long known to be its (and FOS') objection to the law of causation.
Read moreThe Taxman vs. the Treasury Select Committee: round 2
Following his first outing before the House of Commons' Treasury Select Committee in March, and the publication of the Committee's report in July (see my previous post), Dave Hartnett, the Permanent Secretary for Tax, returned on 12 September to answer further questions from MPs.
Read moreNew Injunction Guidance
We have previously reported on the controversy surrounding the number and effect of privacy injunctions
Read moreRio's "role model" image unravels - landslide media victory in privacy case
Serial tweeter Rio Ferdinand has lost his privacy battle against the Sunday Mirror. His privacy row related to a "kiss and tell" story published in the Sunday Mirror last year.
Read moreWhen is a penalty unfair?
A recent tribunal case, Hok Limited v Revenue and Customs Commissioners (TC 1286) has found that HMRC did not act fairly and in good conscience where it had deliberately delayed sending out a penalty for the late filing of an employer's end of year returns until four months after the deadline had expired.
Read moreA word of 'advice'
'Advice' is a loaded word. Different interpretations have very significant and distinct regulatory implications:
Read moreOFT to investigate 'super-complaint' into high costs of currency and using cards overseas
The OFT this morning confirmed that it has received a 'super complaint' from Consumer Focus, a dedicated consumer body, about the high costs to the consumer of using credit and debit cards overseas and obtaining foreign currency.
Read moreTime (bar) is of the essence...
Last Thursday marked the third anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers which may have drawn a line in the sands of time for complaints about the mis-selling of investments before September 2005.
Read moreHMRC opens its books to mortgage lenders
Having been first announced in the March 2010 Budget and following a pilot, the mortgage verification scheme, a joint venture between HMRC, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Societies Association, was finally launched at the start of the month.
Read moreCMC trade association should be welcomed, not derided
A number of CMCs combined last week to launch the Association of Professional Claims Managers (APCM) to "increase the professionalism and levels of service provided by regulated claims management companies".
Read moreFOS announces plans to publish Ombudsman decisions (in full)
On Friday, the FOS released a consultation paper on its proposal to publish Ombudsman decisions.
Read moreSFO turns to tax returns to uncover bribery
It was reported last week that the SFO will call for companies' tax returns in a bid to uncover (particularly overseas) bribery payments.
Read moreSFO to request tax records
The SFO warned last week that companies suspected of paying bribes to win work overseas may be forced to hand over their tax records, in the hope that these may yield evidence of such bribes.
Read moreFirst Bribery Act prosecution - an opportunity missed
The news of the first prosecution under the new Bribery Act will leave commentators and headline writers alike disappointed.
Read moreStart your engines – OFT launches private motor insurance call for evidence
The OFT has this morning issued a 'call for evidence' on the UK private motor insurance industry.
Read moreFOS complaints: you win some; you lose some (or only a few; or almost all)
Today's latest round of FOS complaints data tells the expected tale of woe about PPI complaints but also shows a remarkable disparity between firms' success rates.
Read moreMortgage Verification Scheme to combat mortgage fraud
HMRC, the CML and the BSA have just launched the Mortgage Verification Scheme aimed at combating mortgage application fraud.
Read moreIs the tide turning? HMRC lose discovery assessment appeal
Concern has been building for some time amongst taxpayers and their advisers about HMRC's apparently unfettered use of discovery assessments.
Read morePPI: The storm before the hurricane?
Yesterday the FSA announced the levels of redress paid by firms during the first six months of 2011 to consumers who have complained about mis-selling of PPI.
Read moreOne ombudsman, two ombudsmen, three ombudsmen, more?
In a world where the various ombudsmen are replacing the Courts for the resolution of consumer claims, what happens when two or more respondent firms are covered by the jurisdiction of different ombudsman schemes?
Read moreToo easy? The UK's recent deal with the Swiss banks
The Swiss banking sector contributes 6.7% of the country's gross domestic product, almost 10% of tax revenues and provides the country with 142,000 skilled jobs.
Read moreMorrison fined by the FSA
At first sight, headlines about a hefty fine meted out by the FSA on a former director of a supermarket chain may have led people to presume that Sir Ken Morrison had incurred the wrath of the Food Standards Agency rather than the Financial Service Authority.
Read moreThe CASS alarm bells continue to ring
The FSA's latest pronouncements about CASS make it all the more likely that insurance intermediaries will press for 'risk transfer' in their terms of business agreements with insurers to avoid CASS altogether.
Read moreDouble immunity - the PRA and FCA will remain untouchable
On reading reports recently about criticism of the FSA's handling of an unauthorised investment scheme which left 800 investors £11.5 million out of pocket
Read more"Unacceptable" HMRC under fire from Treasury Select Committee
The House of Commons' Treasury Select Committee (the "Committee") recently released its report entitled "Administration and effectiveness of HM Revenue and Customs" (the "Report").
Read moreThose who live in glass houses... UK's anti-bribery controls to be subject to UN peer review
Timing is everything. Just as the Bribery Act 2010 beds in, it has been announced that the UK will be subject to peer review under the UN Convention against Corruption.
Read moreUnravelling trust transactions – the party’s still on in Jersey
I previously reported on the English Court of Appeal’s decision in the combined appeals of Futter v Futter and Pitt v Holt which clarified (or so we thought) the approach to setting aside transactions for mistake under English law.
Read moreGoing backwards? Retrospective legislation can bite!
Retrospective legislation is a particularly hot topic at the moment.
Read moreGuardian beefs up its privacy code
Guardian News & Media, owner of the Guardian and Observer, has revised its internal editorial guidelines and beefed up the sections that protect privacy.
Read moreAbove board, or backroom deals?
The National Audit Office ('NAO') has recently recommended (see HM Revenue & Customs 2010-11 Accounts) that HMRC should ensure that a clear separation should exist between the negotiation and approval of large tax settlements in order to maintain public confidence in the appropriateness of all such settlements.
Read moreFOS believes respondent firms should be seen but not heard
Tucked at the end of Ombudsman News edition 95 in a little Q&A section about recent queries to its technical advice desk is a bold statement about the FOS' reluctance to hold oral hearings.
Read moreAutomatic numberplate recognition: is it legal?
A report in the Guardian last week reminds readers of the strong likelihood that local police forces have tracked their movements with the use of automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR).
Read moreReporting the family courts - new guide published
A valuable guide has just been published which sets out the law governing access to, and reporting of, the family courts.
Read moreCOP that! HMRC propose a new contractual disclosure facility
On 20 July 2011, HMRC published a discussion document entitled: Civil Investigation of Fraud – Contractual Disclosure Facility.
Read moreCMCs - why not cut out the middle man?
A joint note from the MoJ, FSA, FOS and FSCS issued last week sets out the role that CMCs play in financial services complaints and highlighted the potential drawbacks of engaging a third party in the complaints procedure.
Read moreA "tenuous claim to privacy": Hutcheson v News Group
Can you expect to keep a second family private? That was the ambitious hope of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's father-in-law, Chris Hutcheson.
Read moreRDR: To delay or not to delay, that is the question
The Treasury Select Committee recommended in its recent report that the implementation of RDR be delayed for one year (until January 2014).
Read moreHMRC 'refresh' their litigation and settlement strategy
As tax practitioners will be aware, HMRC's Litigation and Settlement Strategy ('LSS') is the framework within which HMRC seeks to resolve tax disputes through civil procedures.
Read moreEIS and VCT promotions: suitability not guaranteed
The FSA's explicit warning about Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trust (VCT) financial promotions will do little to help financial advisers defend complaints about such investments if FOS makes a habit of disregarding their 'preferential tax status'.
Read moreReporting the Courts: a view on postponement orders
The principle of open justice has been ardently promoted in our society for many years, as was confirmed by Lord Hewart in R v Sussex Justices, ex parte McCarthy who said that “it is not merely of some importance but it is of fundamental importance that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done”.
Read moreNews Corp/BSkyB – a blow to an independent competition regime
In my letter to the editor in today's Financial Times, I reported on the dangers of mixing politics with regulation.
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