UK: Nat West sentencing at Southwark Crown Court for money laundering breaches

The first bank, Nat West, to face a criminal conviction for breaches of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 was sentenced today at Southwark Crown Court. The sentencing remarks of Mrs Justice Cockerill are available here (pdf).

A fine of just over £264 million was imposed, Mrs Justice Cockerill stating that the case was one where, notwithstanding the bank's regret and its commitment to improvement, it was necessary to pass a sentence that would be felt by management and shareholders. In addition to the fine, and a confiscation order of approximately £460,000, the bank was ordered to pay the costs of the Financial Conduct Authority - a little under £4.3 million.

UK: HMT, HMRC and BEIS call for evidence - the umbrella company market

A joint call for evidence - from HM Treasury, HMRC and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy - has been made in respect umbrella companies: see here (pdf). An umbrella company is, for the purposes of the call for evidence, defined as a "business which employs a worker with a view to that worker being supplied to work for, and under the control of, the end-client". The call for evidence seeks views on the role that such companies play in the labour market and the interactions they have with the tax and employment rights systems. It does so noting that concerns have been made about the risks to workers and taxpayers associated with the umbrella company model. 

UK: Takeover Code - Takeover Panel consults on miscellaneous changes

Earlier this week the Takeover Panel published a consultation paper seeking views on various amendments to the Takeover Code - miscellaneous amendments to adopt the Panel's own description of the paper: see here (pdf).

France: AMF publishes annual corporate governance report

AMF - Autorité des Marchés Financiers, the financial market regulator - has published the latest edition of its annual report exploring listed companies' corporate governance, including executive remuneration. A copy of the report, in French, is available here (pdf). A summary of the report, in English, is available here.

UK: Listing Rule amendments - FCA policy statement - dual class shares, free float and minimum capitalisation

New Listing Rules come into force today, following a consultation by the Financial Conduct Authority and, before that, the publication of the UK Listings Review report and recommendations. Further information about the changes now in place can be found in the FCA's policy statement, available here (pdf). The principal changes include: (1) permitting dual class share structures within the premium listing segment; (2) lowering the minimum free float from 25% to 10%; and (3) for ordinary commercial companies listed on the premium or standard segments, increasing the minimum market capitalisation threshold from £700,000 to £30 million (so, lower than the £50 million originally proposed).