Punter Southall Analytics

Super-complaints are a powerful but little known mechanism for consumer justice in the UK. In his latest blog, our Managing Director David Rankin looks at what super complaints are, as well as their recent influence over UK legislation, regulation, and consumer compensation. #supercomplaint #consumer #legislation #regulation

Super-complaints are a powerful but little known mechanism for consumer justice in the UK. In his latest blog, our Managing Director David Rankin looks at what super complaints are, as well as their recent influence over UK legislation, regulation, and consumer compensation. #supercomplaint #consumer #legislation #regulation

The world’s largest corporations have racked up $700 billion in monetary penalties linked to regulatory infringements across 45 countries since 2010. Ninety-five parent companies have received US$1 billion or more in penalties. These headline figures are sourced from a brand-new database called Violation Tracker Global, created by the NGO Good Jobs First. The database documents over 50,000 regulatory penalties imposed by more than 700 regulatory agencies and courts for misconduct by multinational corporations in 45 of the world’s largest economies, with more countries to be added in the future. The tool is designed to support efforts aimed at promoting corporate accountability in relation to initiatives such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. It will serve as a valuable resource for advancing responsible business practices across the globe. Violation Tracker Global covers 8 broad offence groups: Competition/Antitrust, Consumer Protection, Employment, Environment, Financial, Government Contracting, Healthcare, and Safety. Each entry is also tagged with one of approximately 100 specific offence categories, such as privacy/data protection violations, bribery, money laundering, and workplace safety. Violation Tracker Global is free to search at the link below. #regulation #global #penalties #competition

As the world becomes more and more interconnected, effective collaboration between regulatory agencies is becoming more and more crucial.   In his latest blog, our Managing Director, David Rankin, discusses the importance of cross-border competition enforcement to tackle international cartels. #regulation #crossborder #competition #cartels #international

Innovation is important to us at Punter Southall Group. Here at Punter Southall Analytics, we provide data-driven solutions for lawyers, so we know how impactful it can be for law firms to bring onboard technological advancements and embrace new ideas. But we also know that these advancements can be a big and sometimes daunting task to implement. That's why we collaborate with law firms, supporting the use of new technology as a tool to enhance both of our work, and maximise efficiency across the board. Read more in Lean Adviser Legal's article below, Innovation Never Sleeps, Neither Can You. #innovation #technology #legaltech

Financial institutions have paid more than $1.5bn in regulatory fines globally for failures relating to financial crime, data protection and corporate governance in 2024 H1. Regtech firm Corlytics recently announced the headline figure, which brings the value of total fines amassed worldwide since 2020 Q1 to $47 billion.       Three of the top ten fines from the first half of this year related to fair treatment of consumers, according to Corlytics’ head of Legal and Regulatory Analysis, highlighting regulators’ increased scrutiny of firms’ conduct in this area. The shift in focus has been reflected in UK enforcement over the past few years, notably with the FCA’s ongoing roll out of the Consumer Duty, but also with some hefty penalties imposed on companies for customer service failures, including one £90m fine handed to Lloyds Banking Group in 2021 for sending customers misleading home insurance renewal letters. #financialservices #regulation #enforcement #fines #penalties #consumerduty

Dear CEO, are you ready for Consumer Duty phase 2? In a recent blog, our Managing Director, David Rankin, looks at the FCA's use of Dear CEO Letters as a regulatory tool to lay out expectations ahead of today's final deadline for the implementation of Consumer Duty across across all financial services and products. #consumerduty #financialservices #dearceo #regulator

💥 The future of retirement planning just took a significant leap forward. 💥 Today, the 👑 King’s Speech unveiled a new Pensions Bill that mandates workplace pension schemes to offer retirement products. This landmark legislation is set to transform how we approach retirement, ensuring that everyone has access to the tools and guidance they need to secure their financial future. The introduction of this new bill aligns perfectly with our mission at Pension Potential, where we provide digital at-retirement guidance and advice to empower individuals to make informed decisions about their future. At Pension Potential, we’ve been at the forefront of this movement, offering innovative digital solutions that simplify the retirement planning process. Our platform provides guidance to help select the best annuity rates in the market or regulated advice to blend annuity, drawdown and cash. With the new Pensions Bill, our services are more relevant than ever. 😎 I invite you to join the conversation. How do you think this new legislation will impact retirement planning in your organization? Share your thoughts in the comments below. If you found this post insightful, please give it a like and repost to spread the word. #Retirement #Pensions #Finance

Mastercard has settled with merchants represented by Stephenson Harwood in the UK umbrella interchange fee litigation. Stephenson Harwood had brought cases against both Mastercard and Visa in the Competition Appeal Tribunal on behalf of over 1,900 businesses, claiming damages for card transaction fees imposed by the payment schemes. The remaining cases caught by the umbrella proceedings litigation will continue in the CAT, including the Stephenson Harwood merchants’ claims against Visa, and claims from other merchants against both schemes brought by Scott + Scott. #interchange #settlement #groupaction #competitionappealtribunal #competition #merchant #litigation

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) last week clarified its position that the limitation period for a claim seeking damages in compensation for harm cannot start to run before the infringement has ceased. Prague City Court had referred questions to the CJEU seeking clarification on the limitation periods applicable in the case Heureka Group a.s. v. Google LLC. The top EU court found that the Czech Republic’s former rules on time-barring claims (a provision of which held that the limitation period could begin to run before the infringement had ceased) were incompatible with EU law (Articles 101 and 102 TFEU, and the principle of effectiveness). Due to the information asymmetry often present in competition cases, the CJEU said that “the requirement that the limitation period cannot begin to run before the infringement concerned has come to an end is necessary in order to enable the injured party to identify and prove its existence, its scope and its duration, the extent of the harm caused by the infringement and the causal link between that harm and that infringement and thus to be effectively able to exercise its right to claim full compensation under Articles 101 and 102 TFEU.” Essentially, the CJEU has said that both the knowledge requirement (the injured party being aware of the infringement) and the cessation requirement (the infringement having ceased) must be met before limitation can begin to run. Judges also pointed out the important deterrent effect of the cessation condition – a perpetrator may end an infringement more quickly if they risk claimants being able to claim compensation for the full period of harm. #judgment #limitation #competition #litigation #compensation