Category Archives: Regulators

City watchdog ponders rule changes to simplify comparisons of financial products

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FCA to explore simplifying communications about savings accounts and review parts of its credit advertising rules

The City watchdog is considering changing rules to allow people to receive clearer information from financial firms to make it easier for them to find and compare products.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is exploring how it can simplify communications about savings accounts. The watchdog, which will announce its five-year strategy on Tuesday, will also review parts of its credit advertising rules, such as lengthy terms and conditions.

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Performing arts leaders issue copyright warning over UK government’s AI plans

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In a statement, 35 signatories from dance, theatre and music industries express concern about ‘fragile ecosystem’

More than 30 performing arts leaders in the UK, including the bosses of the National Theatre, Opera North and the Royal Albert Hall, have joined the chorus of creative industry concern about the government’s plans to let artificial intelligence companies use artists’ work without permission.

In a statement they said performing arts organisations depend on a “fragile ecosystem” of freelancers who rely on copyright to sustain their livelihoods. They also urged the government to support the “moral and economic rights” of the creative community in music, dance, drama and opera.

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Minister refuses to say disability benefits for people unable to work won’t be cut – UK politics live

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Stephen Timms, social security and disability minister, says government is ‘fully supporting’ people who would always be unable to work

The Reform UK press conference is about to start. There is a live feed here.

Nigel Farage is going to announce that 29 councillors have defected to his party, according to the Guido Fawkes website.

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US rise of cryptocurrency and fall of regulation pose ‘profound risks’ – report

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Center for Political Accountability, which advocates for corporate disclosure, warns of fallout from Trump’s efforts

A new report warns of “profound risks” in American politics as cryptocurrency companies increase their political spending and Donald Trump oversees regulatory retreat while promising to create a “crypto strategic reserve”.

The situation “illustrate[s] the profound risks that unchecked corporate political spending presents, particularly within the volatile and often unpredictable cryptocurrency industry”, reads the report, from the Center for Political Accountability (CPA), a non-profit that advocates for corporate political disclosure.

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River campaigners to sue Ofwat over water bill rises

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Group claims regulator signed off on ‘broken system’ making customers pay for industry’s neglect

An environmental group is to take legal action against Ofwat, the water regulator, accusing it of unlawfully making customers pay for decades of neglect by the water industry.

River Action will file the legal claim this month, arguing that bill rises for customers that have been approved by the regulator could be used to fix infrastructure failures that should have been addressed years ago.

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Watchdog to reinvestigate Jonathan Reynolds’ legal career claims

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Solicitors Regulation Authority says it has further information about claims business secretary misrepresented his career

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has said it will reinvestigate the business secretary Jonathan Reynolds over accusations he misrepresented his legal career.

A spokesperson for the SRA said: “We looked at that issue at the time we became aware of it and contacted Mr Reynolds about the profiles.

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Thames Water wins court backing for £3bn debt package

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Deal approved at high court gives company £1.5bn in upfront cash to stave off collapse

Thames Water has won court approval for an emergency debt package worth up to £3bn that should stave off the collapse of Britain’s biggest water company for at least another few months.

London’s high court said on Tuesday that the deal could proceed, after hearing four days of complex arguments earlier this month over whether it should go ahead. The deal will allow the company to avoid special administration, in effect a temporary nationalisation.

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Next ad banned over ‘unhealthily thin’ model in digitally altered leggings

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Watchdog upholds complaint about advert that digitally altered clothing and used low angle to accentuate long legs

The UK advertising watchdog has banned an advert from high street retailer Next for featuring an “unhealthily thin” model in digitally altered clothing.

The advertisement, which ran on its website, featured a model marketing Next’s “power stretch denim leggings”.

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Rare metal assets, 4,000 workers, a Canary Wharf HQ… but does this billion-pound firm really exist?

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A bizarre mining business’s fake audit reveals the potential for fraudsters at Companies House

At first glance, there is nothing remarkable about Gofer Mining plc. It appears to be just another multibillion-pound corporate giant, with London headquarters in Canary Wharf and interests stretching from Tibet to Ukraine.

Its lengthy financial accounts are full of prosaic details about ­mineral weights, rare metal assets and ­exploration plans.

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Naomi Campbell claims she did not know of financial misconduct at charity

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Supermodel alleges ‘concerted deception’ by fellow trustee kept her in dark over running of Fashion for Relief

The supermodel Naomi Campbell has claimed she knew nothing of the extensive financial misconduct and mismanagement at the anti-poverty fashion charity she created and sat on the board of for more than five years.

Campbell was disqualified from running a charity in May 2024, before the publication of a devastating watchdog report that revealed a trail of administrative chaos, misuse of charity funds, and chaotic record-keeping.

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Watchdog to investigate two former figures at bankrupt Woking council

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Exclusive: Local authority in Surrey declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023 after series of risky investments

Two former senior figures at bankrupt Woking council are to be investigated by the UK’s accounting watchdog after it racked up more than £2bn in debt on a failed investment spree.

The Surrey council declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023 after ploughing vast sums of borrowed money into skyscrapers, a luxury hotel and other risky commercial investments, in what was one of the biggest financial failures in local government history.

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Small UK businesses complain of being caught unawares by EU ‘red tape’

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New safety regulations have led SMEs to stop sales to bloc and Northern Ireland while they work out how to comply

Small businesses are warning they have had to pause selling their products in the European Union and Northern Ireland since mid-December while they work out how to comply with new EU product safety regulations that caught many of them unawares.

Skye Weavers, a small family business on the Isle of Skye, says it has missed out on sales of its scarves, shawls and blankets to customers in both markets after halting internet orders from those locations because of the rule change.

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Ex-Barclays CEO gears up for explosive trial over City regulator’s allegations on Jeffrey Epstein ties

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Court papers seen by the Guardian mean Jes Staley’s appeal against FCA ruling will demand answers on links to sex offender

The former chief executive of Barclays, Jes Staley, is gearing up for an explosive trial next month, that will force him to address evidence suggesting he hid the depth of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the sex offender he referred to as “family”.

Court documents seen by the Guardian reveal myriad allegations made by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), including that Epstein messaged Staley about sex, women and foreign holidays, while working behind the scenes to bolster Staley’s career by liaising with government officials, business leaders and royalty.

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New CMA chair will have to assess curbs on his former employer Amazon

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Doug Gurr will lead board as watchdog rules on Microsoft and Amazon’s dominance of cloud computing market

The new chair of the UK competition watchdog will have to assess whether to curb the position of his former employer, Amazon, after an independent inquiry found that a lack of competition in the £9bn cloud computing market could mean British businesses are overpaying for services.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which last week announced the surprise appointment of former Amazon UK boss Doug Gurr as its interim chair, said that Microsoft and Amazon’s dominance of the cloud computing market could mean that British businesses are paying as much as £430m more annually for services than in a “well-functioning market”.

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Treasury seeks to keep water firm fines earmarked for sewage cleanups

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Exclusive: Restoration fund in England could be ‘siphoned off’ to be used for general government spending, not repairing rivers

Rachel Reeves’s Treasury is looking to keep millions of pounds levied on polluting water companies in fines that were meant to be earmarked for sewage cleanup, the Guardian has learned.

The £11m water restoration fund was announced before the election last year, with projects bidding for the cash to improve waterways and repair damage done by sewage pollution in areas where fines have been imposed.

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City regulator vows to ease ‘burden’ on UK banks amid government pressure

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Bank of England says it is rowing back on ‘overcooked’ regulations introduced after financial crisis

The Bank of England plans to slash the “reporting burden” on UK banks and allow insurers to make riskier investments without initial approval, as it comes under government pressure to ease regulations introduced after the financial crisis.

Sam Woods, a deputy governor at the Bank who leads its regulatory arm, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), said the central bank had rowed back on rules that appeared to be “overcooked”, as he suggested it might have gone too far and harmed the financial sector.

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City regulators to start oversight of tech firms that provide ‘critical’ services to UK

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New powers come amid concerns that cyber-attacks and outages could put the country’s financial stability at risk

City regulators will begin cracking down in the new year on tech firms providing “critical” services to UK banks amid concerns that cyber-attacks and outages at companies such as Google or Amazon could put the country’s financial stability at risk.

From 1 January, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority will be handed powers to regulate companies that are becoming a crucial part of the day-to-day operations of the increasingly digital banking and payments sector.

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Water firms push for higher shareholder returns as Ofwat considers bills increase

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Companies say higher returns are needed to ensure record infrastructure investment across industry is delivered

Water companies want to see higher returns for shareholders to ensure record investment into sewage infrastructure, pipes and treatment plants is delivered.

As Ofwat, the water regulator for England and Wales, prepares to announce its decision on how much customer bills will be allowed to rise by to fund tens of billions of pounds in investment across the industry, water companies said higher returns were needed.

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Widow of gambling addict lambasts watchdog’s failure to investigate suicides

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Exclusive: Annie Ashton, whose husband killed himself, says more people will die because of Gambling Commission inaction

The widow of a man who took his own life after becoming addicted to gambling says more people will die because the regulator is refusing to investigate suicides linked to the addiction.

Annie Ashton is planning legal action against the Gambling Commission after it said it would not investigate or penalise Betfair over the death of her husband, Luke – despite concerns raised about the company at his inquest.

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Regulator stops customers from being billed for ‘undeserved’ bonuses

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Ofwat uses new powers to ensure investors pay at Thames, Yorkshire, and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water

Investors at Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water will be forced to pick up the tab for executive bonuses after the regulator determined that the sector had awarded “undeserved” extra payments, worth £6.8m.

Ofwat said on Thursday it had used new powers to ensure that shareholders and bondholders at the three companies paid for bonuses because they had not “adequately reflected overall company performance issues”.

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