High-flying barrister Nicola Cain struck off for forging judge’s signature in Steele dossier lawsuit February 7, 2022 A high-flying barrister has been struck off for forging a judge’s signature, while defending former MI6 agent Christopher Steele against a libel action filed by Russian tech tycoon Aleksej Gubarev. Veteran barrister Nicola Cain was disbarred for giving her client, Christopher Steele, a fake High Court order, on which she had cut-and-pasted a copy of [...]
HMRC did not issue a single Accelerated Payment Notice last year in sign controversial tax campaign may be waning December 29, 2021 HMRC’s controversial Accelerated Payment Notice campaign may be waning, according to new data. HMRC did not issue any Accelerated Payment Notices (APNS) last year, making it the first year none have been issued since they were introduced in 2014 as part of HMRC’s crack down on the use of tax avoidance schemes, according to research [...]
Just days until LIBOR switch to SONIA: FCA measures likely to postpone potential wave of litigation, for now December 28, 2021 With the deadline for banks to stop using LIBOR as an interest rate benchmark just a few days away, new measures taken by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) mean a possible wave of litigation will likely be avoided for now, though it could be “a problem postponed, rather than solved”, a leading Square Mile lawyer [...]
New SFO director has ‘a massive mountain to climb’ as the anti-fraud agency looks to rebuild July 26, 2023 The new director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) faces a herculean task in rebuilding the agency’s reputation after a number of failures over the last few years, top City lawyers have warned. Earlier this month Nick Ephgrave, the former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, was appointed as the next director of the agency [...]
HMRC confirms probe into 153 people suspected of aiding tax evasion September 13, 2021 HMRC has confirmed it is investigating 153 suspected ‘enablers of tax evasion’, including unregulated tax advisers. Cracking down on ‘enablers of tax evasion’ has been a key area of focus for HMRC since it established its Fraud Investigation Service in 2015. HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service has been given additional resources to recruit more staff and, as a result, the number of investigations into [...]
Number of retail M&A deals soars as buyers eye economic recovery October 25, 2021 The number of M&A deals targeting UK retailers has swelled 28 per cent to 37 in the past year, new analysis has found. City law firm RPC found that the number of deals rose from 29 in the previous year while the Morrisons and Asda deals saw deal value skyrocket. Value has soared more than [...]
New record for UK data watchdog as it handed out £42m in fines last year August 31, 2021 The value of ICO fines issued in the past year was the highest on record at £42m, up 1,580 per cent from the £2.5m in fines issued the previous year, reveals research from RPC, the international law firm. The rise is driven by a £20m fine issued to an airline and an £18.4m fine to [...]
Exclusive: ASOS and Boohoo lead the pack as online-only retail sales hit record £16bn September 20, 2021 Sales at the UK’s 20 biggest online-only retailers have reached a record £16.4bn in the last year, rising 22 per cent from £13.2bn the previous year, according to calculations based on Companies House data. This growth continues to be driven by the success of fashion retailers, which increased their revenues by 14.2 per cent to [...]
Financial services litigation in 2022: Push payments, crypto fraud, ESG and a jump in interest rates January 22, 2022 Push payments, cryptocurrency fraud and a jump in interest rates could lead to more litigation in the financial services sector in 2022, an industry expert discussed with City A.M. this weekend. One of the biggest drivers of financial disputes this year could be authorised push payment fraud. Authorised push payment fraud involves fraudsters duping consumers [...]
The multibillion pound court battle keeping the City’s law firms busy December 21, 2023 Aircraft leasing companies immediately turned to their insurers after their planes were stranded in Russia. But their refusal to cough up has set up a multi-billion pound court showdown.