A look at the most read stories to feature on eprivateclient this week...
Monday
Global investor services firm IQ-EQ hired Darrell King as director of private wealth in the Americas. In this newly created senior role, Mr King will be based in IQ-EQ’s New York office and he has over 20 years’ experience working with (U)HNW clients and their advisers, including in the US, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, the UK, Channel Islands and Switzerland at firms including Stonehage Fleming and RBC.
In order to close the gap between what the public expects when it comes to ensuring lawyers’ competence and what checks are currently in place, the UK's Legal Services Board (LSB) launched a consultation on a draft statutory statement of policy on the outcomes regulators should pursue to ensure legal professionals have the necessary and up-to-date skills, knowledge, attributes and behaviours to provide good quality legal services.
Tuesday
UK financial services firms are still not fostering the right work environment for ethnic minorities to feel like they truly belong and can succeed in the industry, a new survey found. reboot., a network of senior financial services professionals working together to maintain the dialogue on race and racial inequality in the workplace, launched its inaugural annual reboot. FS Race to Equality Index, which revealed that the UK’s financial services industry is not yet up to scratch on its diversity and inclusion (D&I) policies.
The FCA fined NatWest was fined £264,772,619.95 following convictions for three offences of failing to comply with the regulator's AML rules. The charges covered NatWest’s failure to properly monitor the activity of a commercial customer, Fowler Oldfield, a jewellery business based in Bradford, Yorkshire, between 8 November 2012 to 23 June 2016.
Wednesday
Global trust services provider Zedra promoted its UK managing director - active wealth to head of UK for the firm. David Rudge took up his new role at the start of December having only taken on his previous role in March this year when he joined Zedra.
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) president Dr Marcus Pleyer called for a global push to take the illicit profits out of environmental crimes, at a high-level FATF conference involving the public, private, not-for-profit sectors and academia. According to the FATF, environmental crimes generate around US$110 to $281 billion in criminal gains each year and include illegal logging, illegal mining, waste dumping and other crimes.
Thursday
UK wealth management and professional services group Tilney Smith & Williamson announced its commitment to achieve ‘Net-Zero’ greenhouse gas emissions in its corporate operational footprint in support of the goals of the Paris Agreement. The newly merged firm said it intends to report on its GHG emissions, including limited Scope 3 emissions (indirect emissions that occur in a company's value chain).
International law firm Withers augmented its offering in the United States with the launch of a new US-Canada practice following a series of hires in California over the past year. The team, based in San Francisco, provides cross-border legal representation and advice to families, entrepreneurs and businesses with Canadian interests.
Friday
UK law firm BDB Pitmans is to merge with Portrait Solicitors with the deal due to complete in April 2022. City law firm Portrait Solicitors was founded in 1995 and is focused on servicing the needs of private clients and has established a reputation as a discrete niche private client practice. The firm has three partners – Judith Portrait, Dominic Flynn and Helen Johnston and together with their team of associates, will join BDB Pitmans and be based in the latter's City of London office.
Global financial services provider Apex Group appointed Lucia Perchard to a newly created Jersey-based role as head of family office market. She joined Apex from IQ-EQ where was responsible for the development of its family office proposition. Before IQ-EQ, Ms Perchard was a director in Highvern’s family office team, prior to which, she was responsible for a wide variety of relationships and complex cross-jurisdictional structures at Barclays and, more recently, Zedra in Jersey.
With employers cancelling Christmas parties due to the spread of Omicron and new restrictions being imposed, there are other ways that firms can reward employees, according to tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg. Robert Salter, a client service director explained that there are a number of options for employers looking to support their employees with a ‘Christmas Thank You', if their Christmas party is cancelled.