Wayward Financial Institutions Facing Increasingly Stricter Punishment
NatWest’s fraudulent “spoofing” schemes occurred in the primary and secondary markets for U.S. Department of Treasury Securities, including derivatives that tracked the prices of U.S. Treasury Securities for 5-year, 10-year...more
The Department of Justice secured a guilty plea from NatWest Markets, the newly-named Royal Bank of Scotland, for trade manipulation, referred to as “spoofing,” in U.S. Treasury markets. The NatWest resolution reflected new...more
The UK financial services regulators speak loudly and often about their forward-looking approach to supervision, which – rather than looking back – seeks to focus on future risks to firms and consumers. Yet, you only have to...more
In a massive win for Amazon (because, again, Jeff NEEDS it), Court of Federal Claims Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith has granted the company’s motion for an injunction halting Microsoft’s work on the $10 billion cloud-computing...more
The rise of tariffs as a trade weapon has put the WTO in a very difficult position as “chief judge in an intense fight among its most powerful members”....more
In two recent decisions, the English courts have grappled with the application of litigation privilege in the wake of Andrews J’s decision in SFO v ENRC. In Bilta v RBS, the court upheld a claim to litigation privilege over...more
In Bilta (UK) Limited v Royal Bank of Scotland [2017] EWHC 3535 (Ch), the High Court once again addressed the application of legal privilege to documents prepared in the course of an internal investigation. The internal...more
The English Court of Appeal provides further guidance, approving ENRC, on when litigation privilege will not apply to information gathering materials. The English Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) has ruled that...more
The decision indicates that company counsel should consider early how best to anticipate challenges to privilege claims over investigation materials. Introduction - A recent English High Court decision has important...more
The recent English High Court decision in Bilta (UK) Ltd v Royal Bank Of Scotland Plc & Anor [2017] EWHC 3535 (Ch) (“Bilta”) addressed the scope of litigation privilege and cast doubt on some of the principles set out in the...more
There is much for authorised firms to consider in the year ahead. Firms have been through the intensive period of the enactment of the second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II), but must now step up their...more
Financial Industry Developments - FHFA Announces $5.5 Billion Settlement With Royal Bank of Scotland - On July 12, 2017, the Federal Housing Finance Agency ("FHFA"), as conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,...more
On July 12, 2017, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA“), as conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, announced it had reached a settlement with Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, related companies and specifically...more
What happens when a company’s bank accounts are frozen and, as a result, faces imminent collapse, but the bank opposes a court application to process key transactions on the basis that if the bank is made to do so by the...more
NCA v N and Royal Bank of Scotland plc [2017] EWCA Civ 253, 7 April 2017 - The courts can side step the Proceeds of Crime 2002 (POCA) consent regime (whereby consent from the National Crime Agency provides a defence to...more
7 steps companies can take to maximize privilege protections under US and English law. Key Points: ..In a recent case, an English court stated that privilege did not apply to notes of employee interviews,...more
The recent US rejection of the TPP will have wide-reaching effects in Asia. Among them is the strong likelihood of 80s-style trade warring between Japan and the US....more
In December 2016, the English High Court ruled that transcripts, notes and other records of witness interviews prepared by in-house and external counsel in the course of an internal investigation were not covered by either...more
Stuart Barrie Wall v The Royal Bank of Scotland plc [2016] EWHC 2460 (Comm), 7 October 2016 - The Commercial Court ordered a claimant to disclose the identity of a third party funding the litigation he had commenced...more
Federal regulators are on the verge of creating a brand new type of banking license specifically for fintech. Called “special purpose national bank charters,” the licenses are intended to enable fintech companies that accept...more
Bad news for RBS, which is tasked with scrounging up more capital after failing its Bank of England stress test—a bad sign for a British financial system still coping with Brexit fallout....more
The IRS isn’t waiting around for virtual currency to gain wider acceptance. No, it’s more than happy to go after Bitcoin users who have sought to use the virtual currency as a means of evading taxes....more
And we thought Brexit was something. Buckle up. It’s going to be a wild market ride... Whoa....more
The Bank of England announced that the results of the UK 2016 banking stress test would be reported to the relevant firms involved on November 29, 2016 and published on November 30, 2016...more
SEC Adopts Rules for Enhanced Regulatory Framework for Securities Clearing Agencies - On September 28, 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") voted to adopt new rules to establish "enhanced standards for the...more