Contentious

Recent Articles

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  21.12.2022

  FCA out­lines plans for the in­tro­duc­tion of a reg­u­lat­ory gate­way for firms which ap­prove fin­an­cial pro­mo­tions

  Background Under section 21 of FSMA, currently any firm that is authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), may approve a financial promotion by another unauthorised person. However, the government is concerned that the current framework is no longer sufficient and gives rise to risks. The FCA is particularly concerned with the promotion of high-risk investments and ‘Buy-Now Pay Later’ (BNPL) products. The FCA has seen examples of promotions that do not warn consumers of the risks, such as the taking on of debt, missed payments and other consequences. The FCA...

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  08.12.2022

  Eng­lish High Court grants sum­mary judg­ment in cryptoasset fraud claim

  Background Mr Jones was the victim of a large-scale cyber fraud perpetrated by a group of online cyber criminals located overseas. The fraudsters targeted individuals through a fake crypto investment company promising high returns and persuading clients to set up cryptocurrency accounts and to transfer cryptocurrency to this fake online trading platform. Having responded to an online advertisement, Mr Jones opened an account on the fake platform and invested a total of £480,206 purchasing Bitcoin from three exchanges between 22 January 2019 and 10 January 2020, which he transferred to the...

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  07.12.2022

  NFTs as prop­erty – Singa­pore and the UK

  Background facts The Claimant was the owner of an NFT known as the Bored Ape Yacht Club (“BAYC”) ID #2162 (“the Bored Ape NFT”) and regularly entered into loan transactions to borrow cryptocurrencies with the Bored Ape NFT as collateral on the platform NFTfi. As part of the loan agreement, the Claimant would specify, amongst other things, that (a) the lender shall not utilise the “foreclose” option of NFTfi’s Smart Program on the Bored Ape NFT without first granting the Claimant reasonable opportunities to make full repayment of the loan and retrieve the...

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  01.12.2022

  Eng­lish High Court hands down first judg­ment on the new ‘crypto’ ser­vice gate­way

  The dispute The case (LMN v Bitflyer Holdings Inc. and others [2022] EWHC 2954 (Comm)) was brought by a cryptocurrency exchange incorporated in England (LMN), which alleged that some two years ago, hackers obtained access to its systems and transferred millions of dollars-worth of cryptocurrency from it. Most of these assets were traced to a number of exchange addresses. To continue pursuing the trail, LMN needed information from the exchanges about the individuals behind the transactions and what had become of the crypto-assets. LMN therefore sought orders for disclosure of the following information...

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  11.11.2022

  Bel­gi­um: In­sur­ance dis­trib­ut­or li­cence im­posed by European Court of Justice on poli­cy­hold­ers of a col­lect­ive in­sur­ance policy with op­tion­al mem­ber­ship

  The case concerned a legal entity that had subscribed to a collective insurance policy comprising coverage for sickness or accident and coverage for repatriation costs, and offered membership to prospects by way of door-to-door sales, in return for a fee. This entity considered that such activity fell outside the scope of IDD and its definition of insurance distribution. The ECJ confirmed that the statuses of policyholder and insurance distributor are not mutually exclusive. A person may be both a group insurance policyholder and an insurance intermediary insofar as the policyholder performs insurance...

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  31.10.2022

  We­bin­ar: Cur­rent Is­sues in Con­ten­tious Fin­an­cial Reg­u­la­tion - the FCA’s new in­ter­ven­tion­ist su­per­vis­ory style

  Speakers Simon Morris Partner CMS Simon has been a partner in the firm’s Financial Markets team since 1988, having joined the firm in 1980 and qualified as a solicitor in 1982. He advises a wide range of UK and overseas financial institutions on regulatory matters including in relation to market conduct, systems and controls, governance, and responding to regulatory concerns. Simon has represented firms in over 500 regulatory and enforcement proceedings brought by the UK PRA and FCA, their predecessors and overseas regulators. He has extensive experience in the establishment and operation...

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