On 13 July 2017, Richard Baldwin was convicted of dealing in criminal property between October 2007 and November 2008. The criminal property laundered was £1.5 million representing the proceeds of a conspiracy to insider deal by Martyn Dodgson and Andrew Hind. Mr Baldwin used off-shore companies, bank accounts and false invoices to effect his money laundering. The Financial Conduct Authority also brought contempt of court proceedings against him in relation to the breach of a Restraint Order made in June 2011. The Restraint Order prevented him from in any way disposing of, dealing with or diminishing the value of any of his assets within or outside of England & Wales. He admitted his contempt on 13 November 2015.
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HSBC has voluntarily agreed to extend its redress scheme for customers who may have lost out by paying an unreasonable debt collection charge imposed by HFC Bank Ltd (HFC) and John Lewis Financial Services Limited (JLFS), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced. Both HFC and JLFS are now part of HSBC UK Bank Plc. The FCA previously provided updates regarding HSBC’s redress scheme on 20 January 2017 and 26 April 2019.
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Statement in response to Marriott International, Inc’s filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) intends to fine it for breaches of data protection law. Following an extensive investigation the ICO has issued a notice of its intention to fine Marriott International £99,200,396 for infringements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

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SunTrust Banks Inc., the lender merging with BB&T Corp., said it won’t provide future financing to companies that manage private prisons and immigration holding facilities. “This decision was made after extensive consideration of the views of our stakeholders on this deeply complex issue,” the Atlanta-based bank said in an emailed statement Monday. SunTrust’s decision follows similar moves by Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. Politicians including Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is running for president, have urged bank executives and investors to back away from the business as immigration detentions have soared.
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The UK’s world-leading digital tech sector has been going from strength to strength with exports of goods and services in 2016 worth £55 billion up 17.3% since the previous year. UK tech exports to key overseas markets continue to boom with £10.3bn in exports to the USA, £2.1bn to Switzerland and £2.1bn to the Gulf states. The UK digital sector accounts for nearly a quarter of all UK exports and contributed £130.5 billion to the UK economy in 2017.
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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has updated its public register with the latest set of double volume cap (DVC) data under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II). The updates include DVC data and calculations for the period 1 June 2018 to 31 May 2019 as well as updates to already published DVC periods.
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The UK Government has today published a summary of responses to the consultation on the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. This publication was produced after analysis of over 17,000 responses to the consultation last year. It will inform the UK Government’s next steps working with a reformed Northern Ireland Executive or, if it has not been restored, with the political parties in Northern Ireland. Continue reading…

IT Governance, the leading provider of cyber risk and privacy management solutions, has released the results of its first Web Application Attack Survey, which examines how information security professionals across a wide range of industries protect their applications. The survey reveals the most common reasons that organisations secure applications, and the frequency and types of web application testing that they employ. it also highlights the level of risk faced by organisations, with 37% of respondents reporting that their web application(s) had been compromised in the past 12 months.
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Christine Lagarde, who heads the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 2011 and was realected in 2016, resigins temporarily at the IMF. Christine Lagarde announced her temporary resignation from the body after being nominated to head the European Central Bank. Legarde responded on Twitter to the nomination made by leaders of the European Union. Deputy Director David Lipton will take the position of acting director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
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Fabiana Abdel-Malek was sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment and Walid Choucair sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment in respect of five offences of insider dealing. Fabiana Abdel-Malek and Walid Anis Choucair were each convicted over the course of the past three days of insider dealing following an eleven week trial brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) at Southwark Crown Court.
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