UK lifts cap on court days for second year in a row to cut Crown Court backlog April 21, 2022 The UK government has lifted the cap on the number of days Crown Courts are allowed to sit for the second year in a row, as it struggles in its efforts to cut the Crown Court backlog. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said there will be no limit on the number of days judges are [...]
Deloitte exits more London offices after setting out permanent work-from-home policy April 21, 2022 Big Four accountancy firm Deloitte has cut the size of its London offices in another sign the firm is doubling down on remote working. The office space cull comes after Deloitte told staff they are free to work-from-home as often as they want, in June of last year. The auditor is now moving out [...]
UK watchdog fines Deloitte £2m over failures in audit of Mitie’s accounts April 21, 2022 The UK’s audit watchdog has fined Big Four accountancy firm Deloitte and audit partner John Charlton over a raft of failures in its audit of the accounts of outsourcing company Mitie. The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) fined Deloitte £2m and Charlton a furth £65,000 after discovering a number of “deficiencies” in the audit of [...]
Coca-Cola exec spared jail after accepting £1.5m in bribes April 20, 2022 A senior manager at soft drink manufacturer Coca-Cola has handed a 20 month suspended sentence after accepting bribes worth £1.5m. A judge at Southwark Crown Court handed 56-year-old Coca-Cola executive Noel Corry a 20-month suspended sentence and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. The Coca-Cola exec’s conviction comes after Corry admitted [...]
Latham & Watkins asks to drop sanctioned VTB Bank in lawsuit over downed flight MH17 April 20, 2022 Los Angeles law firm Latham & Watkins has asked for permission to drop Russia’s state-owned VTB Bank as a client, in a lawsuit over claims the sanctioned bank funded the militia group that shot down Malaysia Airline Flight 17. In a filing to a New York court, Latham & Watkins asked for permission to withdraw [...]
Irwin Mitchell hands staff £900 bonuses to get through UK’s cost-of-living crunch April 20, 2022 UK law firm Irwin Mitchell is set give its staff a £900 bonus each, to deal with the UK’s cost-of-living crisis. Staff working at the firm are set to receive a one-off payment on top of their April salaries to cover the costs of higher food and fuel prices. The firm said the one-off payments [...]
Union threatens to sue over Uber’s failure to offer ‘sharia compliant’ pension plan for Muslim majority workforce April 20, 2022 The gig economy workers’ union has threatened to take Uber to court over its failure to offer a “sharia compliant” pension plan for its Muslim majority workforce. The App Drivers & Couriers Union (ADCU) has threatened to sue Uber for failing to provide a pension offering that complies with the tenets of Islamic beliefs, after [...]
Veteran congressman calls on Biden to ban oligarchs’ UK lawyers from the United States April 20, 2022 The UK lawyers that have worked on behalf of Russian oligarchs in their efforts to silence journalists should be banned from travelling to the United States, a senior congressman has said. In a letter to US secretary of state Anthony Blinken, Democratic Party congressman Steve Cohen called on the Biden administration to impose travel bans [...]
PwC acquires London consultancy Pollen8 in bid to enhance innovation offering April 20, 2022 Big Four accountancy firm PwC has acquired tech-focused consultancy Pollen8. In a statement, the major auditor said its acquisition of the London-based consultancy will enhance its “technology innovation capability” and give it access to Pollen8’s “specialist innovation management platform”. Founded in 2016, Pollen8 describes itself as a “tech-led” innovation consultancy which uses “data-driven” analysis to [...]
UK listed firms must have at least one woman in a senior position, City watchdog says April 20, 2022 The boards of UK listed companies should employ at least one non-white board member and one woman in a senior role, according to new diversity targets put forward by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Two-fifths of board members should be women, and at least one senior board position – including chief executive, chair, or chief [...]