Category Archives: Regulators

Labor government locks in compensation scheme for financial misconduct victims despite ‘god-like powers’ warnings

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Minister for financial services says government’s accountability regime is ‘locked and loaded’ and will not be changed

The Labor government will push ahead with a new compensation scheme for victims of financial misconduct, refusing to water down civil penalties for the finance sector, and rejecting a claim it would give the responsible minister “god-like powers” to punish banks.

The assistant treasurer and minister for financial services, Stephen Jones, said the government’s financial accountability regime was “locked and loaded” and will not be changed, and rejected Liberal senator Andrew Bragg’s call to have parliament determine the scope of a new levy on financial industry members that will pay for the scheme.

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Barclays could be fined £50m for failing to disclose 2008 Qatari deal

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Provisional fine relates to £322m bank paid to Gulf state allegedly in exchange for £4bn investment to save lender from bailout

The City watchdog could fine Barclays up to £50m for failing to disclose a deal struck with Qatar at the height of the financial crisis, reviving a controversial episode that failed to gain traction in UK courts.

The provisional fine – which Barclays is in the process of appealing against – relates to the £322m the bank paid to Qatar in 2008, allegedly in exchange for the gas-rich Gulf state investing £4bn, helping save the lender from a UK government bailout.

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UK trade regulators struggling to cope due to poor Brexit planning, MPs say

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Commons committee warns there are still shortages of staff to deal with UK’s new status as a third country

UK regulators are struggling to cope with the post-Brexit trading environment because of “poor preparation and planning”, a House of Commons committee investigation has found.

Almost two years after the UK quit the EU, there are still shortages of vets, toxicologists, lawyers and economists to deal with the UK’s new status as a “third country”, found the public accounts committee report, Regulating After EU Exit.

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Inflight wifi could be pricier if takeover of UK satellite firm goes ahead, says CMA

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Competition and Markets Authority says other operators may not be able to compete after merger of Inmarsat and Viasat

The $7.3bn (£5.4bn) takeover of the British satellite company Inmarsat by its US rival Viasat could result in higher-priced and lower-quality wifi for aeroplane passengers, according to the UK competition watchdog.

The Competition and Markets Authority said its investigation has identified concerns with the merger possibly leading to airlines being offered lower-quality products for onboard wifi and facing higher prices to deliver it.

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UK watchdog to examine whether telecoms companies mislead customers

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Cap says mobile and broadband users must get clear information about inflation-busting bill increases

The UK advertising watchdog has launched an investigation into whether telecoms companies are misleading consumers about inflation-busting bill increases when promoting deals in their marketing campaigns.

Telecoms companies make billions of pounds annually by instituting price rises to mobile and broadband bills midway through contract periods – increases that will add to the biggest squeeze on the cost of living facing households in generations.

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UK forces crypto exchanges to report suspected sanction breaches

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New rules in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cover all notionally valuable digital assets

Crypto exchanges must report suspected sanctions breaches to UK authorities under new rules brought in amid concerns that bitcoin and other cryptoassets are being used to dodge restrictions imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Official guidance was updated on 30 August to explicitly include “cryptoassets” among those that must be frozen if sanctions are imposed on a person or company. As well as digital currencies, such as bitcoin, ether and tether, cryptoassets could include other notionally valuable digital assets such as non-fungible tokens.

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City regulators clears HBOS ex-bosses of misconduct over bank’s near-collapse

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Watchdogs say six-year investigation had determined no grounds for action against unnamed individuals

City regulators have cleared former bosses of HBOS of misconduct in the lead-up to its near-collapse in 2008, despite previously having blamed the bank’s board for its failure.

The Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Friday that they had concluded “rigorous and forensic investigations” into unnamed former managers, after gathering more than 2m documents, interviewing former bank managers, and undertaking “substantial analysis” of the bosses’ roles and responsibilities at what was then the country’s biggest mortgage lender and savings institution.

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Blackmores subsidiary kept selling pregnancy vitamins despite hundreds of complaints, ex-employee alleges

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Whistleblower says he was instructed to tell customers the products were safe to consume, despite lack of testing evidence

A subsidiary of the supplements company Blackmores left a pregnancy multivitamin on shelves for nearly a year despite hundreds of complaints that it was contaminated with mould-like black spots, a former staff member has alleged.

In a complaint to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Peter Ellis alleged FIT-BioCeuticals brushed aside concerns about its products, including pregnancy vitamins and vitamin D drops being used by a children’s hospital, in potential breach of quality regulations.

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Former US Coinbase employee and two others charged with insider trading

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Cryptocurrency exchange manager and his brother arrested in Seattle in what is described as the first case of its kind

A former Coinbase employee and two others have been charged in what federal authorities described as the US government’s first cryptocurrency insider trading case.

Ishan Wahi, a product manager at the cryptocurrency exchange, and his brother Nikhil Wahi were arrested in Seattle on Thursday. They and a third defendant, their friend Sameer Ramani, who remains at large, also face civil charges from the US financial watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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CMA investigates sport broadcasters over ‘cartel-like behaviour’

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Watchdog says it suspects possible breaches of competition law around purchase of freelance services

The competition watchdog is investigating possible cartel-like behaviour by sport broadcasters including BT Group, ITV, Sky and IMG Media, which includes Premier League Productions, around the purchase of freelance services.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it believes there are “reasonable grounds to suspect one or more breaches of competition law”.

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UK watchdog opens investigation into Amazon’s marketplace practices

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CMA looks into whether firm gives own sellers unfair advantage over third-party rivals

The UK competition watchdog has launched an investigation into whether Amazon has been giving its own brands and those using its logistics services unfair advantage over third-party rivals on its online marketplace.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it opened an investigation on Tuesday amid concerns the US tech corporation’s practices on its UK marketplace may be anti-competitive and could result in a worse deal for customers.

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Boris Johnson faces investigation into claims over 40 ‘new’ hospitals

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Trusts reveal only five wholly new hospitals planned, as Labour says the scheme ‘exists only in PM’s imagination’

The government’s official spending watchdog is to launch an inquiry into Boris Johnson’s claim that 40 new hospitals will be built by 2030, as concerns grow in Whitehall that the pledge is unaffordable and has been greatly oversold to the public.

In a move that could prove hugely embarrassing for the prime minister, the independent National Audit Office (NAO) has decided to conduct a “value for money review” into the entire scheme, which was a cornerstone of the Conservative party’s 2019 general election manifesto.

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Ofwat extends sewage dumping inquiry to include South West Water

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Regulator expands investigation after suggestions water firm was not complying with legal obligations

The regulator Ofwat has expanded its investigation into the dumping of raw sewage to include South West Water after finding “shocking” failures in the way the majority of water companies run their waste treatment works.

Ofwat said on Tuesday it had extended its inquiry after heightened concerns about South West Water’s environmental performance and suggestions it was not complying with its legal obligations.

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Power firms must ‘up their game’ after Storm Arwen failures, says Ofgem

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Regulator berates network operators for ‘unacceptable’ time taken to restore power to thousands of homes

Power companies must “up their game” after thousands of households in Britain faced “appalling conditions” when they were left without power for more than a week after Storm Arwen hit last year, the industry watchdog has said.

Publishing its full report into the response of power distributors to the storm, Ofgem said they were underprepared and provided an “unacceptable service” to customers, with nearly 1m homes losing power and 4,000 of those cut off for longer than a week.

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Youpla funeral fund collapse: minister seeks advice on compensating victims

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Stephen Jones says he needs to know scale of problem before committing to redress scheme

The new minister for financial services has asked Treasury for advice on how to compensate Indigenous people who were victims of the collapse of the funeral expenses fund Youpla.

Stephen Jones, who was sworn in last Wednesday after Labor’s election victory, stopped short of committing the Albanese government to compensating the victims, telling Guardian Australia he first needed to understand how big the problem was.

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Number of scam calls to Australian phones cut by half while text message crypto scams soar

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Communications industry peak body and watchdog sees telcos block more than 549m scam calls since inception of code

Phone scam calls have halved since this time last year, data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch shows, but other investment frauds – including on social media and via text messages – have soared over the same time period.

The Reducing Scam Calls code was introduced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) in December 2020. It has seen telcos block over 549m scam calls since its inception.

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Consumer groups urge Asic to mount full investigation into collapsed funeral fund Youpla

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Letter from Save Sorry Business coalition also asks that regulator continue misleading and deceptive conduct case against company in federal court

Consumer groups have written to the corporate regulator, asking it to mount a full investigation into whether civil or criminal action can be pursued against people involved in Youpla, a funeral insurance group that has collapsed leaving at least 13,000 Indigenous people without coverage.

In a letter to the chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Joe Longo, the groups also ask that the regulator continue a court case against Youpla, alleging it engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct, even though the group has collapsed.

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‘Complex and volatile’: cryptocurrencies should be regulated by financial watchdogs, say consumer advocates

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Treasury inquiry told ‘crypto is high-risk and unsophisticated investors are at high risk of losing significant funds’

Consumer groups have called for strong financial regulation of cryptocurrency markets and investments in Australia, saying crypto assets are “complex, volatile and high-risk products that can cause harm to Australian consumers.”

In a submission to the federal treasury’s consultation paper on cryptocurrency, consumer group Choice has urged the federal government to “strongly consider regulating all crypto assets under the existing financial product regulatory regime for better outcomes for consumers and the community”.

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Online casinos face crackdown on exploiting gamblers’ superstitions

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Guardian understands advertising regulator is likely uphold complaint against firm’s claims about ‘hot or cold’ games

Online casinos face a crackdown on exploiting gamblers’ superstitions, after the advertising regulator launched an investigation into one firm’s claims about certain games being “hot or cold”.

The Guardian understands the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is likely to uphold a complaint lodged seven months ago against PlayOJO, which advertised a feature last year that offered gamblers a “unique chance to see the games on winning streaks”.

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Unruly US airline passengers hit with record fines by FAA

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Aviation authority has imposed zero-tolerance policy and says incidents have soared since 6 January Capitol attack

An American Airlines passenger who allegedly pushed a flight attendant and spat at crew members has been hit with the biggest fine ever issued by US aviation regulators, and another fine topping $75,000 (£57,500) was issued to a Delta Air Lines passenger who bit a fellow passenger after trying to hug and kiss another.

Since January 2021 when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed a zero-tolerance policy, the agency has proposed fines of about $7m for disruptive passengers. Two new fines issued on Friday were the highest yet.

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