Frozen Russian assets should act as ‘wake up call’ for UK government, campaigners say November 10, 2022 The billions in Russian assets frozen by UK authorities since the start of the war in Ukraine should act as a “wake up call” to the British government, to ensure it never allows a “kleptocratic regime” access to the country’s economy again, campaigners have said. The record £18.39bn in assets frozen by the UK’s [...]
BP oil trader loses employment lawsuit after being stripped of whistleblowing protection November 10, 2022 A BP oil trader has lost an employment lawsuit against the firm after a tribunal ruled he was not entitled to whistle-blower protections. Jonathan Zarembok, who was fired from his job after flagging concerns about potential bribes being paid to Nigerian middlemen, claimed he was forced out unfairly. He raised concerns about “abnormally large” fee [...]
Barclays faces court over £40m breast implant scandal November 9, 2022 Barclays today faced claims it helped a private healthcare company avoid paying compensation to women given faulty breast implants by a private healthcare firm. The bank is accused of working with Midlands law firm The Wilkes Partnership to restructure Hospital Medical Group (HMG), in order to help it avoid paying compensation to women given faulty [...]
Lisa Osofsky to step down as SFO director in August 2023 November 9, 2022 Lisa Osofsky is set to leave her position as director of the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in August 2023 after completing a five-year stint at the fraud investigation agency. Osofsky told staff she will serve her full tenure before leaving the agency, according to an internal message sent out by the SFO chief. In [...]
Barclays told to pay £1m to more than 1,000 mortgage customers over PPI breaches November 9, 2022 The UK’s competitions watchdog has ordered Barclays to pay up to £1m in compensation to at least 1,000 of its mortgage customers, over its failure to comply with rules around Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) policies. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Barclays should pay compensation to as many 1,306 of its mortgage customers, [...]
Johnson & Johnson to face UK class action lawsuit over talc asbestos claims November 9, 2022 Johnson & Johnson is set to face a class-action lawsuit brought forward by high-profile Houston litigator Mark Lanier’s new UK-based firm. The Houston litigator’s new law firm is launching a British class-action lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson over claims the New Jersey pharma giant’s talc products caused UK customers to develop cancer. The lawsuit is [...]
Law firms avoid layoffs amid fears of repeating mistakes of 2008 crisis November 8, 2022 Law firms are avoiding making widespread layoffs, as they seek to wait out the current crisis, due to fears of repeating the mistakes made during the financial crash of 2008, analysts have said. The world’s top law firms are continuing hiring and holding back on making redundancies, despite declining profitability, new analysis from Thomson Reuters [...]
Cypriot PwC partners set up new firm to continue working with Russian clients November 8, 2022 Three ex-partners from PwC’s Cyprus office have left the Big Four accountancy firm to set up a new rival practice in order to continue working with Russian clients. The launch of KiteServe comes after the three ex-PwC partners took early retirement from the Big Four firm in June, after its sanctions policy blocked them [...]
JP Morgan settles with trader fired over wrongful allegations of market spoofing November 8, 2022 JP Morgan has settled with a trader, who was wrongly fired from his job for market spoofing, after the bank failed to pay a £1.58m sum awarded to him by an employment tribunal in January. Ex-trader Bradley Jones was awarded £1.58m after an employment tribunal ruled he was wrongly fired from his £220,000 a year job [...]
Judge blames Baker McKenzie lawyers charging £800 an hour for ‘disproportionate’ costs budget November 8, 2022 A High Court judge has told Associated Newspapers Ltd to lower a “disproportionate” legal costs budget, in suggesting the Daily Mail owner should reconsider its use of “expensive” lawyers from US law firm Baker McKenzie paid more than £800 an hour. Judge Roger ter Haar KC told Associated Newspapers to revise its £3.18m legal costs [...]