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R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
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Trafalgar Multi Asset Trading Company Ltd (in liquidation) v Hadley and others [2023] EWHC 1184 ( Ch), [2023] All ER ( D) 80 ( May) What are the practical implications of this case? Echoing Financial Conduct Authority v Avocade Ltd [2021] EWCA Civ 1206 and Adams v Options UK Personal Pensions LLP [2021] EWCA Civ 474, this dispute concerns losses borne by pension savers after their transferred monies were placed into inappropriate, high‑risk assets. A notable distinction here is that the claimant was the corporate vehicle through which the savers’ funds were invested, acting by its liquidators. The claim may ultimately enable some recovery of pension savings without individual members, or the FCA, having to commence proceedings. The relevant events date from 2014 to 2016, and it is hoped that changes since then have curtailed the likelihood of transfers into comparable...
English court orders crypto exchange to transfer assets into England and Wales to facilitate enforcement of judgment ( Joseph Keen Shing Law v Persons Unknown & Huobi Global Limited) Joseph Keen Shing Law v Persons unknown and Huobi Global Limited [2023] Lexis Citation 820 What is the impact of the decision? Huobi did not agree to the order, nor did it challenge it. The court concluded that exceptional circumstances justified granting the relief: although the exchange was assisting the claimant to stop the other defendants (who had defrauded the claimant) from accessing their accounts, the position could shift to the claimant’s disadvantage, and the court would have no control over Huobi because it is based outside England and Wales. This ruling (handed down in January but only recently released) predates Piroozzadeh v Persons Unknown and others [2023] EWHC 1024 ( Ch), where the High Court set aside an...
Berlin’s Data Protection Authority ( DPA) has imposed a €300,000 penalty on a Berlin-based bank for three breaches of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation ( EU) 2016/679......
The European Securities and Markets Authority ( ESMA) has released a public notice tackling investor protection issues stemming from derivatives linked to fractional shares. It clearly underscores that such derivatives are not company shares, and, as a result, firms ought not to employ......
Market Manipulation Cryptocurrencies have triggered extensive discussion in recent times indeed. Debate has largely centred on their valuation or how these assets should be regulated today. However, scrutiny of market manipulation is essential, especially the behaviour of digital asset trading platforms themselves. FTX’s late-2022 implosion thrust crypto and market abuse squarely into view for the wider public today. At one stage in its three-year life, it stood as the world’s third-largest exchange by trading volume at peak. Today, FTX’s founder and chief executive Sam Bankman- Fried faces charges for conspiracies to commit commodities fraud and securities fraud, plus conspiring to defraud the United States and to violate campaign finance laws. These counts arise from claims he cheated investors of US$1.8bn (£1.5bn) in total. Since last November, FTX has been under Chapter 11 proceedings in the US courts. The sheer scale and profile of FTX’s...
The consultation sets out how the FCA plans to operate a new regulatory gateway that would: place an automatic curb on FCA‑regulated firms that sign off financial promotions created by third parties require any firm wishing to keep approving promotions for others to apply to the FCA to have that approval ban lifted A tightening of the perimeter for financial promotion approvers was explored in July 2020 in a consultation response, where HM Treasury expressed concern that the current approval framework is inadequate, as authorised firms face no dedicated assessment before they may approve the financial promotions of unauthorised firms. The document identified three potential risk areas, including: insufficient expertise within approver firms: because financial promotions span a wide array of products and services, authorised firms can end up approving material beyond their competence, risking content that is...
These additional rules will also sit alongside the usual obligation that promotions are transparent, fair, and not misleading. As the UK government set out its plans to bring crypto activities within the existing financial services regulation, it also said it would exempt crypto businesses, which are not currently authorised in the UK, from needing their adverts to be signed off by an authorised firm. The exemptions were introduced in response to industry concerns about the lack of......
Investigations & Enforcement Trends 2023—a perfect storm for regulatory enforcement Introduction Set against intensifying economic headwinds, geopolitical volatility and a continuing shift to a post-pandemic landscape, 2022 delivered a surge in UK regulatory activity across bodies such as the Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA), Prudential Regulatory Authority ( PRA) and Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ( OFSI). The FCA handed down 26 fines in 2022 versus 10 in 2021, although the aggregate value declined from £567.7m in 2021 to £215.8m last year. The UK’s appetite to strengthen enforcement shows little sign of easing, with the FCA already issuing two fines this year. The authors accordingly foresee a testing year ahead as regulators further expand the scope and scale of their investigative reach. AML Systems and Controls As expected, robust action persisted in 2022, with the FCA levying its largest penalty of the...
The Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA) has warmly welcomed the Court of Appeal’s decision to refuse leave for a judicial review in the matter of R ( Sutton) v FCA. A group of crude‑oil traders had made an application seeking a judicial review of the FCA’s choice to seek information from UK residents so as to assist the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission ( CFTC) with an ongoing probe into certain crude oil trading on a......
With the global shift towards net zero, a swell of lawsuits targeting firms that misrepresent their offerings as green is looming. However, although the UK watchdog has repeatedly vowed to tackle ‘greenwashing’, including through enforcement, the law does not invariably favour the Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA). As environmental activists and disgruntled investors bring claims against businesses for overstating the sustainability of their products, the regulator’s capacity to intervene will seem ever more constrained unless its powers are strengthened. Without stronger powers, the regulator’s ability to act will look increasingly reduced, particularly as allegations accumulate and claimants press for action against exaggerated sustainability claims. Activity on sustainable finance is progressing at pace in the UK. In November 2020, the government was first to unveil mandatory climate-risk reporting. By the close of 2023, major financial institutions and listed corporates must publish...
The Jersey Financial Services Commission ( JFSC) imposed a £498,000 financial penalty on 4 August 2022 on Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc’s Jersey branch in the Channel Island of Jersey for having treated a correspondent bank as an ordinary commercial client between 2008 and 2020. The outcome was disclosed on 12 August 2022. Consequently, according to the island’s regulator, Lloyds failed to implement the heightened controls required under Jersey’s AML regulations. Correspondent banks deliver services to other lenders to facilitate transactions and generally do not have a direct link to the customers behind those payments, which makes it difficult for them to confirm information or carry out due diligence. The head of the Jersey branch, Alasdair Gardner, acknowledged the commission’s conclusions, accepting that falling short of the rules governing the management of the correspondent banking relationship was...
Breaches of UK trade and financial sanctions are pursued through criminal or civil action. Since 15 June 2022, civil enforcement of UK financial sanctions operates on a strict liability footing, meaning liability can arise even without knowledge or reasonable suspicion of a breach. Businesses should therefore scrutinise their sanctions compliance frameworks to ensure robust processes and procedures exist to spot and reduce sanctions risk. The move to strict liability reflects a deliberate step by HM Treasury and OFSI to align the UK approach, where appropriate, with the tougher US model. OFSI OFSI may now publish information about financial sanctions breaches even when no monetary penalty is imposed, including naming the persons responsible. This power is used only where a breach is found and there is a significant compliance lesson for industry, with an opportunity to make...
Hymans Robertson LLP Hymans Robertson LLP stated that numerous providers still face significant effort and resource demands to overhaul their practices and processes in order to meet the FCA’s consumer duty expectations. It also observed that many pension providers are still absorbing the extent of changes needed to satisfy its standards, warning firms not to misjudge the time required to prepare for the incoming rules. The FCA is anticipated to set out its definitive rules, with the implementation date, before the close of July 2022. The draft package sets out a wide suite of obligations for banks, insurers and other financial sector firms to make sure clients are not exposed to financial detriment. Karen Brolly, head of financial services at Hymans Robertson, said the new regime for the sector......
Banco Santander, SA v JAC and MCPR ( Case C-410/20) The Court of Justice of the European Union ( CJEU) has issued its ruling in Banco Santander, SA v JAC and MCPR ( Case C-410/20). That decision stems from a request for a preliminary reference addressing, among other points, how to interpret the EU Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive 2014/59/ EU ( EU BRRD). The reference arose from a dispute between investors in Banco Popular Español SA ( Banco Popular) and Banco Santander SA, which had succeeded to Banco Popular, concerning Santander’s potential liability for inaccuracies in the Banco Popular prospectus prepared under the Prospectus Directive 2003/71/ EC, on the strength of which those investors acquired Banco Popular shares. The CJEU determined that investors in Banco Popular are barred from bringing proceedings for liability against Banco Santander under Article 6 of the...
JSC VTB Bank v (1) Alexander Katunin (2) Sergey Taruta (3) Arrowcrest BVIHC ( COM) 2014/0062 Background VTB, a Russian bank, moved to enforce a US$30m judgment debt against a Ukrainian businessman and politician, secured before the invasion of Ukraine. Following the UK’s sanctions against VTB, its BVI legal advisers applied to come off the record on the basis that continuing to represent VTB would harm their reputation and was likely......
Tokio Marine Holdings Inc announced in a statement that it will refuse to honour insurance contracts taken out by firms linked to Lex Greensill and his supply-chain finance group, after a thorough investigation. The Tokyo-headquartered insurer said it had found that Greensill fraudulently misrepresented matters material to underwriting the policies to BCC Trade Credit Pty Ltd, Tokio’s Australian subsidiary, from at least September 2018. In light of those deceitful misrepresentations and fraudulent breaches of an insured’s duty of disclosure, Tokio Marine today notified counterparties that these policies, and related obligations, are void from inception, the company said. Tokio Marine added it will vigorously defend itself against claims brought against it and against BCC, whether brought, lodged, filed or made, over......
Judge Sara Cockerill handed the bank a penalty at Southwark Crown Court for breaching regulations after a regional commodities trader paid in £365m ( US$483m), chiefly in cash, over five years. She remarked that, while the bank was not itself complicit in the laundering taking place, the crimes could not have occurred without its shortcomings. The judge set out numerous lapses and failures by the lender in overseeing and probing Fowler Oldfield Ltd, a gold dealer connected to the case......
The Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA) has barred Jon Frensham (previously known as Jonathan James Hunt) from carrying out regulated activity. The FCA concluded Frensham, an independent financial adviser and sole director of Frensham Wealth Limited, lacks the integrity to operate in financial services. In March 2017, Frensham was found guilty of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming. He committed this offence......
Biscoe and another (as joint liquidators of Equitable Law Capital Ltd) v Milner and others [2021] EWHC 763 ( Ch), [2021] All ER ( D) 26 ( Apr) What are the practical implications of this case? Although a large portion of the decision focuses on assessing the evidence, it also contains sections capturing the legal principles accepted by the parties (and rulings on disputed points where pertinent). Because multiple issues were in play, the judgment effectively distils the key statutory provisions and recent authorities on wrongful trading, fraudulent trading, transactions at an undervalue, and misfeasance. As such, it serves as a valuable recent authority for an overview of these areas. Moreover, beginning at para [400], there is a thorough legal examination of the impact of a settlement between a claimant and one of several joint and/or concurrent tortfeasors. The court then...
Wood v Commercial First Business Ltd and other companies; Business Mortgage Finance 4 plc v Pengelly [2021] EWCA Civ 471 What are the practical implications of this case? The Court of Appeal has reset the approach to secret commissions and bribes by returning to first principles. This judgment reminds practitioners that rescission of the transaction, recovery of the amount paid as a bribe or secret commission, and/or an award of damages are remedies available at common law as well as in equity. As a result, it is no longer necessary to engage in a fine-grained assessment of the precise nature and scope of the relationship between the parties to determine whether, and to what extent, it was fiduciary. The core enquiry is simply whether the recipient of the bribe or secret commission owed a duty to provide neutral and unbiased advice or...
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When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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