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International Edition

A watching brief - the challenges facing the Bar Standards Board

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has come a long way since its inception in 2006 when the Bar Council split off its regulatory arm from its representative function. But with the profession entering its most challenging period yet, as Government spending cuts take their toll and the Legal Services Act (LSA) comes into effect, the BSB is facing its most crucial test to date. After the watchdog celebrated its fifth birthday last month, the question being asked is how the BSB will cope with the changes ahead to regulate the profession successfully. As the regulator for barristers in England and Wales, the BSB takes responsibility for setting the education and training standards of barristers throughout their careers as well as monitoring their quality and conduct. With the LSA bringing about fundamental changes to the profession, not least to its culture, by allowing barristers to form partnerships and join forces with solicitors, it is clear that the regulator must evolve once more.
13 minute read

International Edition

Pinsents signs up Winston & Strawn Bootlaw bloggers for London office

Pinsent Masons has boosted its regulatory capabilities ahead of the implementation of the Bribery Act with the hire of Winston & Strawn partner Barry Vitou. Vitou joined the UK firm's London office as a partner earlier this week from the City arm of Winston, where he headed up the regulatory and technology practice. He will work closely with Pinsents' outsourcing technology and commercial group head Clive Seddon.
2 minute read

International Edition

FSA secures another high-profile conviction for insider dealing

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has secured a high-profile prosecution against a former Dresdner investment banker for insider dealing, in the latest crackdown on market abuse by the City regulator. Christian Littlewood has been sentenced to three years and four months in prison for eight counts of insider trading which occurred between 2000 and 2008 during his employment at Dresdner and most recently Shore Capital. During this time he accrued a total of £590,000 in relation to the charged offences.
3 minute read

International Edition

A team of two - why GCs and chief compliance officers must work in tandem

The role of the chief compliance (and ethics) officer (CCO) is currently a hot, if confused topic. What does she do - ensure good process or enforce strict compliance? To whom does she report - general counsel/chief financial officer or to chief executive officer/board? What is her role in shaping the company's voluntary adoption of ethical standards beyond what the law requires? This issue has been thrust into high relief by regulators and enforcers who, in light of various scandals, want a more independent compliance function in corporations. For example, changes in the US federal sentencing guidelines would give corporations extra credit if the "specific individual" in the corporation with "day-to-day operational responsibility for the compliance and ethics programme" has direct access to the board of directors.
9 minute read

International Edition

Offshore: Keeping quiet

Like other well-regulated jurisdictions, Guernsey's money laundering regime requires, in broad terms, that when a financial services business (FSB) suspects that one of its clients may be involved in money laundering, it must make a suspicious transaction report (otherwise known as an STR) to the Financial Intelligence Service (FIS), a joint unit of the Guernsey Police and Customs & Immigration Department tasked with receiving and analysing STRs. Common sense suggests that the utility of the STR would be greatly reduced if the FSB, as the same time as making an STR, could inform the client that it had done so. The client could then act to frustrate any potential action which might be taken by the FIS. For that reason, the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Financial Action Task Force (FATF), among its 40 recommendations, included a recommendation (number 14) that businesses should be prohibited by law from disclosing the fact that an STR had been made.
8 minute read

International Edition

£150m cap on fines for Tesco law breaches is 'too low', says SRA

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has challenged the £150m cap on Tesco law licensing breaches recently set out by the Legal Services Board (LSB). The SRA has questioned the maximum penalty recommended by the LSB last month, citing the miners' compensation case that saw 500 firms paid £1bn for acting for sick coalminers. A raft of firms involved later faced claims over their conduct in handling the work.
2 minute read

International Edition

OTC regulation must avoid introducing systemic risk

On 15 September 2010, exactly two years after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the European Commission (EC) published its Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Over-The-Counter (OTC) Derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories. It is aimed at enhancing transparency, withstanding shocks of the credit default swaps and reducing the overall vulnerability of the counterparty credit risk. It will enter into force on 1 July 2012. The main goal of the proposal is the establishment of central counterparties (CCPs) for OTC derivatives clearance and the creation of trade repositories (TRs) responsible for gathering data to identify, early on, where imbalances may be building up. The scope of the regulation is wide, laying down uniform requirements covering financial counterparties, non-financial counterparties (exceeding certain thresholds) and all categories of OTC derivatives.
3 minute read

International Edition

K&L Gates adds two partners to London base

K&L Gates has strengthened its project finance and regulatory practices with the hire of two partners in its London office. Project finance partner Matthew Kidwell joins K&L Gates from fellow US law firm Shearman & Sterling, where he was a partner in the energy team. He advises international oil and gas companies on all aspects of the energy chain including oil and gas exploration, production, refining, pipelines and transportation, regulation and power generation and transmission.
2 minute read

International Edition

Senior SFO duo quit for moves to London offices of US firms

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has rejigged its legal team following the departure of two senior officials for of counsel roles at US firms Covington & Burling and White & Case. The head of the SFO's anti-corruption team, Robert Amaee, has left the government body to join Covington & Burling as of counsel, as Covington moves to strengthen its London white-collar crime group.
2 minute read

International Edition

Litigation & Regulatory Team of the Year

Herbert Smith wins Litigation and Regulatory Team of the Year thanks to its work securing British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) damages of at least £272m from EDS following the botched installation of a customer relationship management (CRM) system. The firm was originally instructed by BSkyB in 2002, shortly after EDS was removed from its role as systems integrator. The challenge was to overturn a liability cap arranged at the outset of the deal that limited EDS' liability for damages to a maximum of £30m.
2 minute read

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