Shipping firm hit with £850,000 fine for paying bribes in Angola A shipping firm was today fined £850,000 for bribery in Angola that secured it contracts worth $20m (£15.8m). FH Bertling, which was the UK arm of German shipping company Bertling and is now in liquidation, paid bribes of more $350,000 to a local state oil company official. After an investigation starting in 2014, the Serious [...]
Deloitte boosts UK partner promotions by more than 40 per cent Deloitte has promoted 78 to its partnership in the UK, an increase of more than 40 per cent on the previous year. Of the new UK partners, 32 (41 per cent) are women, up from 11 in 2018, taking the firm’s female partners to 223, 21 per cent of the partnership. Fifty four of the [...]
Law firm DWF announces revenue bump in first results since listing Law firm DWF said today it grew revenue 15 per cent in 2019 in its first trading update since it went public in March. DWF became the first law firm to float on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, raising £95m in a listing that valued the business at £366m. The firm said [...]
HMRC increasingly targeting individual executives in tax crackdown June 3, 2019 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is increasingly targeting C-suite executives personally as it looks to hold businesses to account. The number of chief financial officers and other senior finance directors fined has increased 22 per cent in the year to 31 March to hit 152. In 2017-18 HMRC levied 125 fines against individuals while in 2012-13 – [...]
Only on in five businesses has insurance against terrorism June 3, 2019 Only one in five UK businesses has a terrorism insurance policy in place, according to a survey published today. Research by Comres, commissioned by terrorism reinsurer Pool Re, showed 81 per cent of businesses either do not have a policy in place or are unaware if they do or not. Read more: Law to help [...]
Retail investors could lose millions as risky forex trading firm crashes into liquidation June 2, 2019 An unregulated forex trading firm is set to go into liquidation leaving retail investors millions of pounds out of pocket. Hudspiths, which recently established ventures in Dubai and Luxembourg, has appointed insolvency practitioners UHY Hacker Young to oversee a creditors' voluntary liquidation. This follows attempts by creditors to wind the company up after it stopped [...]
Aberdeen Standard opposes Non-Standard Finance’s hostile Provident Financial takeover June 2, 2019 A major shareholder in Provident Financial has come out to publicly oppose rival doorstep lender Non-Standard Finance’s (NSF) hostile takeover bid. Aberdeen Standard Investments, which owns 3.1 per cent of the sub-prime lender, said it would not accept NSF’s offer. Read more: Watchdog probes Non-Standard Finance's hostile takeover of Provident Head of UK equities Andrew [...]
Troubled Metro Bank slashes commercial real estate lending in portfolio rebalancing June 2, 2019 Metro Bank has dramatically reined in its lending to real estate clients as it tries to rebalance its loan portfolio. The challenger bank has undergone a torrid time recently after it miscategorised the risk of 10 per cent of its loan book sending its share price crashing and forcing it to raise £375m of additional [...]
London business confidence falls in May as Brexit chaos continues May 31, 2019 Business confidence in London fell nine points in May to 10 per cent, according to a study published today. Companies in the London region reported lower confidence in their business prospects, with a 12 point fall to 16 per cent, the report from Lloyds Bank showed. London firms’ hiring intentions showed a net balance of [...]
Notifications to EU Commission about unlawful tax breaks rocket in state aid crackdown May 30, 2019 The number of notifications to the EU Commission about potentially unlawful tax breaks has rocketed as countries take a tougher stance on state aid. In the last five years the Commission was notified about 385 potentially unlawful tax breaks, compared to just 80 between 2007 and 2013. Over the 12 months to 31 March the [...]
