Accountancy firms ask for exemptions from ban on providing services to Russia May 24, 2022 Accountancy firms have asked the UK government to offer exemptions to professional services firms from rules blocking them from working with Russian clients. The calls come after the government this month set out plans to block British accountants, business consultants, and PR managers from providing their services to Russians, in response to the country’s invasion [...]
Magic Circle law firm Clifford Chance ups pay for junior lawyers to £125,000 a year May 24, 2022 Magic Circle law firm Clifford Chance has upped pay for its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers to £125,000 a year, in a sign the UK’s most prestigious law firms are facing continued pressure to offer huge salaries to their most junior solicitors in order to recruit and retain top talent. The firm told City A.M. its [...]
SRA to increase fining powers after pushing forwards with plans for £25,000 penalties May 24, 2022 The UK’s solicitor’s watchdog is set to increase its fining powers 12 and half times over, by upping its maximum fining threshold to £25,000. The Solicitor’s Regulation Authority (SRA) said it is pushing forwards with plans to increase its maximum fines from £2,000 to £25,000, after the plans came under fire from law firms. The [...]
KPMG fined £3.4m over Rolls Royce audit failings May 24, 2022 Big four firm KPMG has been fined £3.4m over its audit of Rolls Royce. The company was slapped with the penalty by the financial regulator over its failings to address problems at the company in a 2010 audit. This is the fourth fine imposed on KPMG in 2022 according to the FT. The Financial Reporting [...]
US lawyer pulls out of Hong Kong government forum after activists brand it a ‘propaganda event’ May 23, 2022 The head of US law firm Davis Polk’s Asia division has pulled out of speaking at a Hong Kong government forum commemorating the coming into force of the city-state’s controversial national security laws, after pro-democracy activists branded it a “propaganda event”. In a post on Linkedin, Martin Rogers, the chair of Davis Polk’s Asia business, [...]
G4S to face legal battle after judge approves triple killer’s negligence lawsuit May 23, 2022 A psychiatric patient, who killed three elderly men in Exeter, is suing security contractor G4S for negligence after the firm’s staff said he should be released from police custody. The London firm will now face a High Court trial after a judge rejected G4S’s argument that Alexander Lewis-Ranwell should not be able to bring forward [...]
Hong Kong stock exchange to open US and Europe offices May 23, 2022 The Hong Kong stock exchange is planning to set up two new international offices in the US and Europe, in an effort to draw overseas investors back to the City state. Speaking to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) at Davos, Nicolas Aguzin, the head of Asia’s third largest stock market, said the new offices [...]
Government to face Atos in court following spat over £845m supercomputer contract May 23, 2022 The UK government is set to face IT company Atos in the UK’s High Court next month after the French firm filed a lawsuit against government over its decision to award an £845m Met Office contract to Microsoft. The French multinational is claiming its bid was wrongly excluded from the tendering process on the grounds [...]
Beny Steinmetz’ BSGR bribed dictator’s wife to secure rights to run Guinean iron ore mine, US arbitration ruling says May 23, 2022 Beny Steinmetz’ mining company, BSGR, paid millions in bribes to the wife of Guinea’s former dictator to secure the rights to operate an iron mine in the West African country, a US arbitration ruling has said. The diamond magnate’s firm used “corrupt practices” to obtain licenses to mine Guinea’s Simandou iron ore deposit, the International [...]
UK’s information watchdog tells Clearview AI to delete photos of British people from facial recognition systems May 23, 2022 The UK’s information watchdog has told surveillance tech firm Clearview AI to delete its database of facial images scraped from British people’s social media profiles. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) also fined the tech firm £7.55m, after ruling the firm broke the law by taking people’s photos without their permission. The intervention comes after [...]