Pallas Partners files suits against Swiss regulator over Credit Suisse bond write-down

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Pallas Partners files suits against Swiss regulator over Credit Suisse bond write-down

Pallas Partners is coordinating proceedings in the Swiss courts on behalf of around 800 Credit Suisse AT1 bondholders who held securities valued at $1.7bn. The bondholders have filed claims against Swiss regulator the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), alleging that FINMA’s decision to write down the value of the bonds to zero as part of UBS’s acquisition of Credit Suisse should be considered invalid and the value of the bonds reinstated.

Pallas explained in a statement that the first claim was filed on 18 April on behalf of two groups of bondholders: one comprised of ‘over 90 global institutional investors and asset managers’, with holdings valued at $1.35bn, and another of ‘more than 700 retail and family office clients’, with holdings valued at over $300m. Continue reading “Pallas Partners files suits against Swiss regulator over Credit Suisse bond write-down”

Sponsored briefing: Turkey | Data protection during the COVID-19 pandemic

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Sponsored briefing: Turkey | Data protection during the COVID-19 pandemic

Dear Clients, Colleagues and Friends,

Following the announcement of the COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization, increasingly restrictive measures to curb the spread of the virus have been taken in Turkey, as in many other countries all over the world. These measures lead to additional personal data processing activities, and raise new challenges in terms of compliance with data protection law. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Turkey | Data protection during the COVID-19 pandemic”

Barclays acquittal draws flak for flawed SFO prosecutions despite record Airbus win

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Barclays acquittal draws flak for flawed SFO prosecutions despite record Airbus win

Thomas Alan assesses the fresh controversy around SFO tactics

It claims it is a public service hamstrung by archaic laws and deserves more sympathy; its critics make unfavourable comparisons to the civil service and question the competency of its lawyers. Continue reading “Barclays acquittal draws flak for flawed SFO prosecutions despite record Airbus win”

Financial Regulation – Increased focus on culture raises question: is everything OK?

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Financial Regulation – Increased focus on culture raises question: is everything OK?

Our second one-day summit dedicated to banking disputes and regulatory actions returned in February with a host of sponsors, speakers and more than 150 guests in central London. Backed by a string of top names in contentious banking work, including headline sponsor White & Case, as well as Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Boies Schiller Flexner, One Essex Court and Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF), the event was guaranteed a heavyweight line-up.

There was no mistaking the core theme for the day, which White & Case banking disputes chief John Reynolds set out in his opening remarks. Arguing that cultural issues sat at the heart of the global financial crisis over a decade ago, Reynolds gave a jaded assessment of the progress since, despite the string of post-crisis reforms, like the Senior Managers Regime, ringfencing and legislation on bonuses. Continue reading “Financial Regulation – Increased focus on culture raises question: is everything OK?”

‘This raises serious questions’: More SFO failure as former Barclays execs escape fraud convictions

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‘This raises serious questions’: More SFO failure as former Barclays execs escape fraud convictions

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is facing criticism after suffering another high-profile defeat in its only financial crisis prosecution after three former Barclays bankers were today (28 February) acquitted of fraud.

Barclays’ ex-investment banking chief, Roger Jenkins, its ex-European financial institutions head, Richard Boath and the former head of its wealth division, Thomas Kalaris, were all accused of creating fraudulent advisory services agreements as a means to disguise payments worth £322m to Qatar. Continue reading “‘This raises serious questions’: More SFO failure as former Barclays execs escape fraud convictions”

DPAs in spotlight as SFO ends long-running Rolls-Royce and GSK investigations

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DPAs in spotlight as SFO ends long-running Rolls-Royce and GSK investigations

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has today (22 February) ended investigations into two landmark cases involving Rolls-Royce and GlaxoSmithKline, prompting scepticism from white-collar lawyers.

Despite agreeing a £497.3m January 2017 deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the car manufacturer, the SFO has pulled its bribery and corruption probe into Rolls-Royce following a ‘detailed review of the available evidence’. Continue reading “DPAs in spotlight as SFO ends long-running Rolls-Royce and GSK investigations”

First big defeat for Osofsky as SFO fails in Tesco prosecution

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First big defeat for Osofsky as SFO fails in Tesco prosecution

Newly-installed Serious Fraud Office (SFO) director Lisa Osofsky has suffered her first major setback, as the agency’s prosecution of two former Tesco executives was quashed this morning.

At Southwark Crown Court, Judge Sir John Royce instructed the jury to acquit John Scouler, formerly Tesco’s UK food commercial director, and Chris Bush, previously Tesco’s UK managing director. Both men had been prosecuted by the SFO on fraud and false accounting charges over a £250m profit overstatement by Tesco in 2014. Continue reading “First big defeat for Osofsky as SFO fails in Tesco prosecution”