Related insights: Finance: Banking, Restructuring, Insolvency

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Seeking individuals as investors? Regulatory conditions change again

28 Mar 2024
Womble Bond Dickinson reported in January that the long-overdue update to the conditions under which companies seeking funding could approach individuals without the need to have any promotional communications approved by a financially regulated firm. These changes, which took effect on 31 January, have proved very short-lived, and new limits now apply from 27 March 2024.

Regional growth in sight as WBD advises on East Midlands acquisition for TradeChoice

11 Mar 2024
Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has advised on the latest expansion of a major carpet and flooring distributor with the acquisition of a Nottingham-based company.

The firm's Corporate Finance team, which advises a number of globally-leading consumer brands and retailers, has acted for TradeChoice, a member of the Carpetright group, on the purchase of T&R Floor Covering Distribution, a family-run firm with more than three decades of expertise in the East Midlands.
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The inflation situation: why the headlines don't tell the whole story and what it could mean for investors

23 Feb 2024
Earlier this month, on Wednesday 14 February, if you weren't too distracted opening Valentine's Day cards and gifts, you might have turned on the morning news to hear the main story that "UK inflation stays at 4%". We have now had over two years of high inflation exceeding the Government's target of 2%. The Bank of England have hiked the base rate from 0.1% at the end of 2021 to 5.25% at present in an attempt to dampen the economy and curb inflation to the intended level, but inflation remains twice as high as it should be. The Bank of England's governor, Andrew Bailey, was careful to not put a more positive spin on things when commenting that the latest data "pretty much leaves us where we were" in terms of the fight against high inflation and the potential for reductions in interest rates.
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LTA changes: getting ready for "L-Day"

22 Feb 2024
The Finance Bill issued on the 29 November 2023 introduced draft legislation to repeal the current Lifetime Allowance (LTA) regime and replace it with a new system of lump sum allowances. The changes are set to take effect from 6 April 2024: "L-Day".

However, the Finance Bill is still in draft and has only just passed the public bill committee stage; it could still be subject to further change before it receives Royal Assent. HMRC intends to continue hosting LTA working groups, and to issue communications every two weeks, right up to L-Day.

Womble Bond Dickinson advises Bovill on acquisition by Ocorian

12 Feb 2024
Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has advised specialist regulatory consultancy firm Bovill on its acquisition by Ocorian, a specialist global provider of financial and corporate administration services and regulatory solutions.

The acquisition of Bovill will enhance Ocorian's global regulatory and compliance platform to meet growing demand from asset managers and financial institutions for regulatory advice and compliance support.
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Motor vehicle finance – the next PPI?

24 Jan 2024
It would certainly be safe to say that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has decided to enter 2024 with a bang – publishing policy statement PS24/1 (the Policy Statement) setting out temporary changes to the rules for handling complaints relating to discretionary commission arrangements (DCAs) in the motor finance industry on the 11 January. Although relatively benign in themselves, these changes are a direct response to the increasing volume of complaints regarding DCAs which have been referred on to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) (and in some cases, to the Courts) having been rejected by the motor finance firms concerned. The Policy Statement also provides an insight into how the FCA intends to handle what is almost certainly a significant industry-wide issue.
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Financial crime prevention: 2023 paves the way for a busy 2024

21 Dec 2023
We've been providing end of year regulatory round ups for quite a few years now, and it would be safe to say there's never been a quiet year. But 2023 may just have surpassed all others! We've seen two important laws come onto the statute book, setting new requirements and giving new powers to regulators, which set the foundations for 2024 implementation. We've seen the usual enforcement actions – in fact, all but one of the fines FCA has imposed on regulated firms have been for financial crime failings – and we've had a clear message from FCA that financial crime prevention is one of its super-charged priorities for the next year.