Training & Knowledge: January 2014

31st Jan 2014Blog

SFO seeks a further £19m on top of £32m budget to fund its operations

In a Written Ministerial Statement delivered to the House of Commons yesterday (30th January 2014) Oliver Heald, the Solicitor General, revealed that the Serious Fraud office was seeking an additional £19million of funding for its work, and that it required £11m of that as an immediate advance pending Parliamentary approval of the larger sum. Investigating […]

30th Jan 2014Blog

Date confirmed for the introduction of deferred prosecution agreements

A statutory instrument, introduced just before Christmas (and available by clicking here), confirmed that Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) will be available in the UK from the 24th February 2014. Many readers won’t need to be reminded that a DPA (defined here) is a voluntary agreement between a prosecutor and a commercial organisation where a prosecutor […]

27th Jan 2014Blog

The financial ombudsman service: Growing in presence and not to be overlooked

In recent years the Financial Ombudsman Service has seen its powers and market visibility grow markedly. So much so that the Personal Finance Society president David Ingram has told Money Marketing: “The industry is more scared of FOS than the FCA.” The latest FOS Plan and Budget for 2014/2015 was published in January 2014. This […]

6th Jan 2014Blog

Prosecuting bankers under the banking reform act 2013: Political puff or criminal clout?

On 18th December, the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 received its Royal Assent, and was lauded by the Treasury as the “biggest reform to the UK banking sector in a generation”. Further, the Treasury says it will “help to increase conduct standards amongst bankers.” There must be a real question mark, however, as to […]