Welcome to Allen & Overy’s Investigations Insight blog, sharing with you our views and insights into the latest trends, risks and developments in financial services investigations
01 September 2016 Britton Nohe-Braun
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently settled two matters arising from attempts by employers to restrict the rights of employees who whistleblow to the SEC to collect monetary awards that employees may be entitled to recover in exchange for information. These settlements should prompt firms to take a fresh look at their › Read More
Bitcoin theft: Regulatory response to an emerging technology
31 August 2016 Ryan Middlemas
The recent theft of approximately US$60m worth of bitcoins from Hong Kong based cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex is the latest in a series of Bitcoin thefts. The value of bitcoins fell over 20% in the immediate aftermath of the incident. The theft highlights the continuing legal and regulatory uncertainty in relation to cryptocurrencies. While some jurisdictions › Read More
Shining a light into dark pools
25 August 2016 Stacey McEvoy
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published the results of its Thematic Review into UK equity market dark pools. There is a broadly positive view of dark pools and their contribution to the market, although with a cautionary note sounded on management of conflict of interests and governance, complete with a list of 75 questions › Read More
Incentives, mindsets and behaviours: How the FCA defines and assesses culture
24 August 2016 Ian Rodgers
The FCA has been stressing the importance of culture for a considerable time. Now, they’re at it again. Jonathan Davidson, the Director of Supervision – retail and authorisations at the FCA, spoke this summer on the topic of ‘Getting culture and conduct right – the role of the regulator’. I’ve set out below his main › Read More
UK Law Society set to defend privilege in investigations?
18 August 2016 Sarah Hitchins
The UK Law Society is consulting on new guidance regarding legal professional privilege (LPP). A considerable section of the draft guidance focuses on ‘contentious’ privilege issues that may arise in the context of internal or regulatory investigations. Understandably, the draft guidance does not provide definitive answers to some of these issues. However, the Law Society › Read More