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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been excoriated as "incompetent at best, dishonest at worst" in a new report from MPs and peers. The culmination of a three-year inquiry involving testimony from 175 individuals, the report highlights the FCA's failure to protect consumers and small business

The FCA has fined Barclays £40 million in total for its failure to disclose certain arrangements with Qatari entities in 2008. This follows Barclays' decision to withdraw its referral of the FCA's planned action to the Upper Tribunal. The action was based on findings which included that Barcla

There was a one per cent increase in crime in the year to September 2024, new figures from Scotland’s chief statistician show. The police recorded 300,134 crimes in the year ending September 2024. This was one per cent higher than the 297,425 crimes recorded in the year ending September 2023,

Hunter & Robertson Solicitors won the Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce 2024 Award for Outstanding Performing Business (5-25 employees) recently.

A two-kilogram garden gnome made entirely out of MDMA has been seized by police in the Netherlands. The fairy creature, with a suitably mischievous countenance, was discovered in a drugs stash by the Dongemond police force in the south of the country.

Orkney solicitor Serena Sutherland has been nominated as president-elect 2026-27 of the Law Society of Scotland. Ms Sutherland was elected to the society's Council in July 2018, representing solicitors in Dingwall, Dornoch, Elgin, Inverness, Kirkwall, Lerwick, Lochmaddy, Portree, Stornoway, Tain and

Simone Callaghan won the Rising Star Award at the Scottish Paralegal Christmas Dinner Dance on Saturday. Ms Callaghan is an accredited paralegal in debt recovery at TC Young.

Animal welfare charity OneKind and conservation charity Scottish Badgers and 11 MSPs gathered outside the Scottish Parliament yesterday to celebrate Scotland’s snaring ban that has come into force.

A case on servitudes is the subject of a new article on the Edinburgh Private Law Blog. "In a recent case, AC & IC Fraser & Son Limited v Munro [2024] SAC (Civ) 41, the Sheriff Appeal Court was faced with two issues relating to the law of servitudes: firstly, whether a landowner’s inac

The first round of a national school debating tournament has kicked off, with students across Scotland debating whether zoos should remain open. In the 25th year of the Law Society of Scotland’s Donald Dewar Memorial Debating Tournament, the first round debates saw the motion “This house

Plans for a new European convention protecting the profession of lawyer have been approved in draft. The European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ) last week approved the draft text prepared by the Committee of Experts on the Protection of Lawyers (CJ-AV), which was established for that purpose

There are "serious concerns" about overcrowding in Scottish prisons after a new report found that the prison population remains too high. HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland (HMCIPS) found that inmates are sharing cells not designed to be shared.

A new head of skills academy has been appointed at Cyber and Fraud Centre - Scotland. Katie O’Neill brings extensive experience in cybercrime training, having worked with Police Scotland in her previous role as cyber and digital forensics training lead, where she delivered advanced training pr

Kennedys has set out a science-backed plan to achieve net zero by 2040. The firm is committed to reducing its global Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 90 per cent from the 2040 fiscal year, using the 2020 fiscal year as a baseline.

More than 27,000 young people have benefited from education and awareness-raising sessions on tackling gender-based violence over six months, according to a new report. The latest Delivering Equally Safe impact report, published by Inspiring Scotland, shows that the number of young people accessing