Banks Fined – Litigation Tsunami Expected

A tidal wave of civil litigation is in expected after City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined five banks a total of £1.1bn for rigging the £3.4trn-a-day foreign exchange market (forex) on the 12th November.

The five – Citibank, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS – can all expect to be hit by claims from clients including pension funds, foreign property owners and other foreign exchange houses, according to solicitors in London who have been quietly lining up litigants for the last two years.

A vital component of any successful action will be proving that a bank behaved in such a way that it profited at the expense of its customers.

The FCA statement said: ‘It is completely unacceptable for firms to engage in attempts at manipulation for their own benefit and to the potential detriment of certain clients and other market participants. Our final notices include examples where each bank’s trading made a significant profit.’

The final notices also all contain references to collusion between traders at different banks using online messaging and chatrooms. The FCA cites one example of such chatroom manipulation which netted Citibank a profit of £62,581 and another in which HSBC banked £102,425.

The notices could prove a boon for those bringing cases because they also contain examples of traders congratulating themselves after successfully manipulating forex rates. This, from one UBS trader, is typical: ‘The best fix of my UBS career’ – after he used a chatroom to move rates to produce a profit for £328,100 for UBS.

Chancellor George Osborne has said a share of the fines will be taken by the Treasury and ’used for the wider public good’.

Tracey McDermott, the FCA’s director of enforcement and financial crime, said: ‘Firms could have been in no doubt, especially after Libor, that failing to take steps to tackle the consequences of a free for all culture on their trading floors was unacceptable. This is not about having armies of compliance staff ticking boxes. It is about firms understanding, and managing, the risks their conduct might pose to markets.

‘Where problems are identified we expect firms to deal with those quickly, decisively and effectively and to make sure they apply the lessons across their business. If they fail to do so they will continue to face significant regulatory and reputational costs.’

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London’s Hot £1bn Office Buying Frenzy

There’s a red hot property market prevailing in London at the moment according to commercial conveyancing solicitors with pressure on for completions before Christmas.

The Gherkin was speedily bought recently by Joseph Safra for £726 million according to industry insiders.

The strength of the capital’s economy and the reasonably high returns on investment are proving to be a sweet temptation for purchasers of London’s commercial buildings. Such transactions include the purchase of Bow Bells House near St Paul’s for £300 million by Fubon Life the insurance megalith from Taiwan; it also has recently added neighbouring One Carter Lane to its portfolio for £139 million.

Other hot purchases are Milton Gate, Vintners Place, Thames Court and Cannon Bridge House which are expected to achieve in excess of £800 million.

The Abu Dhabi-backed flats developer Northacre is the suspected purchaser of Victoria’s New Scotland Yard, home of the Metropolitan Police, for £300 million and a takeover bid for the Canary Wharf developer by Qatari and Canadian Investors has been tabled.

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Immigration Law changes on 6/11/14

On the 16th October 2014 the Home Office published its latest statement of changes to the Immigration Rules. This update outlines the key changes made.

Business visitors

A new category has been added for overseas lawyers who are employees of international law firms with offices in the United Kingdom. The change will allow the business visitor to provide direct advice to clients in the United Kingdom on litigation or international transactions, provided that they remain paid and employed overseas.

Tier 2

The Home Office will now make an assessment as to whether a genuine vacancy exists for Tier 2 (Intra-company transfer) and Tier 2 (General) applications. This change empowers entry clearance officers and in-country caseworkers to refuse applications where there are reasonable grounds to believe that the job described by the sponsor does not genuinely exist, has been exaggerated to meet the Tier 2 skills threshold, or – in respect of Tier 2 (General) – has been tailored to exclude resident workers from being recruited, or where there are reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant is not qualified to do the job. As the Sponsor Licence Unit already performs this function when assessing restricted certificate of sponsorship applications, it will be a duplication of effort if entry clearance officers also perform this genuine vacancy assessment. For those migrants earning in excess of £153,500, the resident labour market test requirements do not apply.

An existing requirement in the published guidance for sponsors is that Tier 2 migrants cannot be sponsored to fill a position, undertake an on going routine role or provide an on going routine service for a third party which is not the sponsor. This requirement is being replicated in the Immigration Rules. This enables applications by individuals for entry clearance or leave to remain and applications by sponsors for restricted certificates of sponsorship to be refused in line with any wider compliance action relating to the sponsor in question. This applies to so-called ‘contract cases’ where migrants are based at a client site and is of particular significance for the IT sector. These cases will now incur greater scrutiny to ensure there is a genuine provision of services by the sponsor and no disguised employment by the third party.

A change is being made to the Tier 2 (General) provisions for extension applications where the applicant is continuing to work in the same occupation for the same sponsor. Such applicants are exempt from the resident labour market test; at present, the exemption applies only if the applicant still has current leave as a Tier 2 (General) migrant when they make their extension application. The change will enable the applicant to benefit from the extension if his or her previous leave as a Tier 2 (General) migrant expires no more than 28 days before the extension application is made.

A temporary provision dating back to 2009, which waives the £20,500 minimum salary threshold where companies are reducing their employees’ hours to avoid redundancies, is being removed.

Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme

The annual allocations for participating countries on the scheme are being set for 2015. The allocations for New Zealand have been increased (16%).

Tier 2 (Sportsperson) and Tier 5 (Temporary worker – creative and sporting)

A change is being made to the table of governing bodies to include information on the tier(s) in which each body may endorse applicants. Updates are also being made to the list of sports governing bodies.

These changes came into effect on the 6th November 2014.

Original reporting by the International Law Office 14/11/14

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Immigration law proposals

Ed Miliband has promised to generate an immigration costs creating “clear, reliable and concrete changes” within months, if Labour wins next year’s basic election.

The party leader likewise said there would be an end to “false promises” on the subject if he ended up being head of state.

Mr Miliband pledged action on border checks, exploitation and opportunities available to UK employees.

David Cameron has actually promised “more action” to suppress migration.

Official figures published in August revealed UK net migration – the difference in between those entering and leaving – enhanced by more than 38 % to 243,000 in 2013-14. EU residents accounted for two-thirds of the growth.

Mr Cameron has said his aim of lowering the figure to below 100,000 is still attainable.

In current days, it has actually been reported that the coalition could look for an “emergency brake” to stop EU migration after it reached a specific level or to restrict the variety of National Insurance numbers provided to new arrivals from the EU. Mr Cameron is attending an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
‘Standards’.

Mr Miliband was speaking on a check out to Rochester and Strood, Kent, where a by-election is taking place next month following the defection of MP Mark Reckless from the Conservatives to UKIP.

Its predecessor seat, Medway, was held by Labour from 1997 to 2010, when the brand-new constituency was developed.

However a survey by ComRes recommends Mr Reckless is on course to win in Rochester and Strood, putting him on 43 %. It positions the Conservatives on 30 %, Labour on 21 % and the Liberal Democrats and Green Party both on 3 %.

In his speech Mr Miliband repeated Labour’s guarantee to count everyones going in and from the UK and make it a criminal offence when employment recruiter recruit exclusively from abroad.

He added that he would improve and expand apprenticeships and make sure that “public sector workers in public-facing roles have minimum requirements of English”.

These measures would be consisted of in an Immigration Reform Bill, to be detailed in more information in the first Queen’s Speech after a Labour triumph next May, he stated.

Mr Miliband also guaranteed to “seek change in Europe”, including:.

Longer transitional controls on migration when new countries sign up with the EU.
Stopping youngster advantage and youngster tax credits being paid to children living abroad.
Doubling the period of home before people would be entitled to advantages.

However he added: “False promises on immigration just make people more negative about politics. I won’t belong to that. I will not make guarantees I cannot keep.”.

Mr Miliband also stated: “I will certainly never suggest a policy or a course of action which would damage our nation. (UKIP leader) Nigel Farage wants to leave the European Union on which 3 million British jobs and countless companies in our country depend.

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Relationships, Economic downturn and Recuperation

Relationships, Economic Downturn and Recuperation

The function of relationships in creating social recuperation.

A study has been reported by relate – which is briefly dpresented here.

Recessions and recuperations are features of the economic cycle. Right here we look at the implications of future recessions and recoveries for our relationships, and vice versa. Economic crises and recuperations tend to be primarily understood in slim, financial terms. Yet economic downturns are also social phenomena which influence individuals’s lives in various methods– including their couple, household and social relationships. We refer to this social impact of economic downturn as ‘social economic crisis’. Social economic downturn can be triggered by financial recession, however can also exacerbate and lengthen it, hindering recuperation. In this research report, we analyze the ‘social recession’ in terms of the social repercussions economic recession can have. Specifically, we concentrate on the sustained decline in the quality and stability of couple, family and social relationships.

We took a look at individuals’s experiences throughout the last economic downturn which began in 2008. In order to figure out the extent to which individuals’s experiences of recession corresponded to the quality and strength of their relationships, we examined information from the Understanding Society longitudinal research, which includes 40,000 homes throughout the UK, over the economic crisis duration. We categorised individuals according to their experiences of recession utilizing seven indications, organizing people with similar experiences, and analyzed their relative chances of experiencing deterioration in their relationships.

One could expect economic crises to take a toll on family life and relationships– arguments over cash are known to be a major reason for relationship problems. Sure enough, the findings show that a ‘social economic downturn’ has actually occurred alongside economic recession, in regards to a substantial correlation between unfavorable experiences of economic crisis and degeneration in relationships: people who were disadvantaged financially throughout economic crisis were considerably more probable to have actually experienced deterioration in their relationship quality and stability.
The groups who felt the impact of economic crisis most strongly, nevertheless, were considerably more influenced in their relationships, in comparison with the standard (the ‘Advancing’ group).
These relative possibilities of experiencing relationship breakdown held even after we accounted for picked background qualities, such as their income, family structure, education and relationship length.

The findings right here verify those of previous researches, which similarly reveal that financial shocks and unemployment can decrease relationship quality by enhancing conflict in relationships, decreasing mental wellbeing, and even impacting on physical health. Previous studies also show that this lowered relationship quality throughout economic downturn translates into increased danger of relationship breakdown. The findings contribute to this evidence base adding useful insight into the ways in which economic crisis experiences associate with relationship wear and tear.
Breakdown of relationships can respond to counselling but when the relationship has broken down irreversibly a good family lawyer can a minimum of ensure that a customer retains an appropriate proportion of the joint assets.

At WhichSolicitor, we can make an appropriate recommendation for you.

Original article can be found as a PDF here

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Pre-Nuptial Agreements Increasing in the UK

A pre-nup is often a subject of much mirth in the UK; a dinner party debate about the merits of pragmatism versus idealism. Considering what you might do in the event of a divorce with regards to your estate is of course very pragmatic, but the partner calling for the agreement has often been depicted as a tad mercenary.

The demand for prenuptial practicalities is on the rise, with one London company reporting a 50% rise in people inquiring about pre-nups. Evidence from CAFCASS supports these claims, with a 2% increase in Private Law demand between 2013 and 2014. This followed a 9% increase on the 2012/13 figure.

This upsurge could have been partly prompted by the Law Commission’s suggestion that a pre-marriage agreement should form part of the marriage reform, and that pre-nups should be given the kind of legal weight which they’re afforded in Scotland.

The question was thrust into the news in 2010 when renowned German heiress Katrin Radmacher’s pre-nup was upheld by the Supreme Court. Radmacher’s partner, Nicolas Granatino, had been part of a pre-nup which agreed that no claim would be made on each other’s assets. After changing his mind on this agreement and asking for a sizeable chunk of his former wife’s estate, the court substantially reduced his claim in accordance with the pre-nup.

The rising prominence of the prenuptial agreement probably reflects the times we live in. Divorce is much more commonplace, and whereas marriage probably still carries as much weight in terms of devotion, people recognise that they can drift apart and this doesn’t tend to carry the same social stigma as it did in the past. Add to this the fact that family life can now be very complicated with marriages then remarriages, and the complicated family ties which emerge as a by-product of these separations.

Family solicitors in London have said “We strongly recommend that couples consider a pre-nuptial agreement – especially if property is involved. Also with social media being an increasing presence in most of our lives it may not be that surprising that couples are now not only taking steps to protect their estate in an event of a divorce but also their online reputation by including a social media clause in their pre-nup.”

There’s also the fact that the way we earn money as couples has changed dramatically. Modern couples are often equal partners in terms of income, so why should one person have claim over any assets that were acquired before marriage.

The question will always be a great topic of debate with its conflicting moral and practical dimensions. Many couples who neglected to sign a pre-nup will rue their lack of forward planning, but when everything is rosy, why spoil the party by introducing a potential bone of contention.

Perhaps the pre-nup is not that far removed from making a Will; divorce and death are both pretty grim prospects, but few people would question the practicality of making a Will.

Original reporting by PropertyWire 18/8/14

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First Time Buyers Loans Hit 7-Year High

Mortgage lenders made 28,600 first-time buyer loans in June, 7% more than the previous month and the highest since November 2007, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. By value, banks and building societies lent £4.2 billion to those taking their first step on the ladder, the highest amount since August 2007.

Loans to other homebuyers also grew over the month but at a slower rate, increasing by 4% to 31,900 as the market cooled slightly in response to tighter mortgage restrictions introduced at the end of April, as well as higher anticipation of interest rate rises from the Bank of England.

CML director general Paul Smee said: “For the second month running since new rules took effect, lending characteristics remain similar to the market beforehand.

“We now feel confident that, as we would hope, the mortgage market review effect is more gentle dampener than hard brake.”

The CML’s figures showed affordability for first-time buyers little changed with buyers borrowing 3.47 times their income. They borrowed an average £123,865 in June, up from £121,500 in May. Record low interest rates meant payment burdens remained relatively low in June, at 19.3% of gross income. Over the second quarter as a whole, there were 79,900 first-time buyer loans — 24% up on the same period a year earlier.

Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: “The lending market remains strong, suggesting that the impact of the mortgage market review has not been detrimental.”

To paraphrase Harold Macmillan, the former Prime Minister “Conveyancing solicitors in London have never had it so good!”

Original reporting by the London Evening Standard 11/8/14

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Divorce of Malaysian owners of Laura Ashley

Divorce of Malaysian owners of Laura Ashley stake to be heard in Britain

Pauline Chai and Khoo Kay Peng’s £ 400m conflict most likely to be settled in London where other halves can expect higher awards. The conflict between Pauline Chai, 67, and Khoo Kay Peng, 74, is now more likely to be settled in London.

A £400m divorce battle between a Malaysian former beauty queen and her separated spouse, who possess much of the Laura Ashley fashion industry, is most likely to be heard in Britain following a ruling by the Asian nation’s highest court. London Solicitors and barristers are most likely to be included.

The disagreement between Pauline Chai, 67, and Khoo Kay Peng, 74, is now more probable to be settled in London where partners can anticipate far greater awards and a more equal department of household properties.

The case is the most recent example of affluent foreign litigants looking for to fix high-value divorces in British as opposed to overseas courts.

The case, which has actually been running in parallel in the UK and Malaysian courts, has already been condemned by a British judge for its “eye-watering costs” of almost £2m.

Justice Holman questioned earlier this year “just just how much time of an English court these celebrations must be able to take up on preliminary skirmishes, whilst squeezing out the many needy litigants who need precious court time to recuperate their youngsters from abduction or seek their return from care, and other such issues”.

But the federal court in Kuala Lumpur on Monday rejected the partner’s attempt to have actually the case heard in Malaysia, clearing the way for a 10-day hearing at the high court in London in late September to evaluate whether it has territory in the case.

Khoo, who is stated to be worth approximately £400m, resides in the £30m Rossway Park estate near Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. He and his partner own 40 % of the Laura Ashley fashion business. The couple, who have 5 youngsters, are not British citizens.

Chai’s divorce solicitor in London, said: “I am unbelievably happy that the two highest courts in Malaysia have actually recognized the essential oppressions associated with binding a better half to the residence of her husband.

“This is a case where the wife has actually not resided in Malaysia for over 30 years. A law that therefore rejects her the independence of a domicile of choice, and ties her to a country that she has long since left behind, is rather remarkable.

“We are delighted that the Malaysian courts have recognized the importance of the problems of equality invoked by this case and the need for the concern of our customer’s independent residence to be relatively heard.”.

Khoo’s attorneys have actually said that the marital relationship took place in Malaysia and that Malaysian laws provide that the jurisdiction for any divorce proceeding is figured out by the spouse’s residence.

Reported in the Guardian….

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House Prices Rise at Fastest Rate Since 2007

The cost of the average UK property rose at an annual rate of 10.2% in the three months to July according to the bank’s latest house-price index after a faster-than-expected 1.4% surge last month alone.

The double-digit annual rise is the quickest since September 2007 when Northern Rock — eventually nationalised — was at the centre of the UK’s first bank run in over a century.

The increase — much stronger than registered by Nationwide — is sure to provoke more speculation of interest-rate rises from the Bank of England.

Threadneedle Street is using measures such as restricting high loan-to-income mortgages to cool the market as a first line of defence but loan approvals are recovering from a dip earlier this year.

Rob Wood, chief economist at Berenberg, said: “The housing market is shaking off new mortgage rules. This is important, as the BoE have recently been pointing to the housing market as a good reason for broader economic growth to slow. We look for house prices to gain 10% in 2014 and 2015.”

Our conveyancing solicitors in London are now reporting that their current work volumes are similar to those enjoyed pre recession.

Original reporting by the London Evening Standard 6/8/14

They rose by 19.3 per cent to £499,000 – more than 11 times the average full-time London salary of £43,866 – in the year to June, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Despite the sharp rise, there are some signs of the widely anticipated cooling in the market as the rate of increase is down from the 20.1 per cent peak recorded in May. The ONS data tend to lag actual agreed deals by several months. More up to date figures yesterday from the property website Rightmove showed asking prices slumping nearly 6 per cent in August.

Fears about interest rate rises, tougher mortgage approval rules and a strengthening pound that has made London more expensive for foreign buyers are all thought to have taken some of the heat out of the capital’s propperty market.

According to the ONS average price of a newly built home – the section of the market most dominated by foreign buyers – actually fell slightly in June from £408,000 to £398,000.

However, there was little sign of relief for first time buyers with average prices for debut home owners rising from £388,000 to £393,000.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of the housing charity Shelter, said: “Today’s house price hike is yet another blow for people across LOndon desperate to put down roots and create a stable home.

“No matter how hard people work or save, millions are being priced out of a home of their own, caught in the ‘rent trap’ and constantly moving from one expensive property to the next.

“The only solution is for politicians to roll up their sleeves and build the affordable homes we so desperately need. From a new generation of part rent part buy homes, to encouraging smaller builders back into the market, there are ways to fix this country’s housing crisis.”

Original reporting by the London Evening Standard 19/8/14

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Divorce: Banker may lose £2m home

Former City trader Yan Assoun, 44, was described by a judge as having spending power “beyond the wildest dreams” of his fashion writer ex, Anais Assoun, 45.

But now, in a bitter break-up, the banker insists he cannot ‘survive’ in his New York lifestyle after his ex-wife was given an “unfair financial advantage” over him by a divorce judge’s ruling.

In a drastic reversal in fortunes, Mr Assoun, who owns a luxury Manhattan apartment and founded a company which recently turned over £5million, is now left with only a fifth of his income.

In a previous hearing he had complained: “I own an apartment worth $3.3million – it doesn’t mean I’m rich.”

Mr Assoun and his ex-wife had met and married in London while he worked in the City for BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse. They raised their two children in the capital before splitting in 2007 and departing for different parts of the US in 2009.

In a divorce court hearing last year, Judge Glenn Brasse had ruled that the “reasonable needs” of Mrs Assoun and the former couple’s children amounted to almost $500,000 (£295,000) a year.

The judge had earlier said of the banker: “[His] spending ability is not within the wife’s reach, not within her wildest dreams.”

But Mr Assoun is now claiming at the Appeal Court that he will be effectively exiled from New York by Judge Brasse’s order, as he cannot afford the cost of maintaining his lifestyle there.

Lady Justice Arden heard that Mr Assoun, majority shareholder in a banking business that turned over $8million in 2012, had already handed his ex $1.5million in assets and legal costs, prior to last year’s hearing.

Mrs Assoun, a “well educated” woman who owns a ranch in Texas, earns $65,000 a year herself, Judge Brasse found.

Her ex-husband had insisted at an earlier hearing that he was “bust”. But he was found to be reaping a yearly income of more than £400,000 by Judge Brasse, who went on to order him to pay the lion’s share of that to his ex-wife and children.

He is now asking for permission to appeal the judge’s order, which he says left him with less than £90,000 a year to live on, after tax. That is a sum on which it will be “very difficult to survive” in New York, he said.

Lady Justice Arden said she would decide whether to grant him permission to appeal after considering Mrs Assoun’s reply.

For divorce solicitors in London we should be your first port of call.

Original reporting by the London Evening Standard 28/7/14

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Category Archive London Solicitors

Banks Fined – Litigation Tsunami Expected

London’s Hot £1bn Office Buying Frenzy

Immigration Law changes on 6/11/14

Immigration law proposals

Relationships, Economic downturn and Recuperation

Relationships, Economic Downturn and Recuperation

The function of relationships in creating social recuperation.

Pre-Nuptial Agreements Increasing in the UK

First Time Buyers Loans Hit 7-Year High

Divorce of Malaysian owners of Laura Ashley

House Prices Rise at Fastest Rate Since 2007

Divorce: Banker may lose £2m home

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