KPMG to make unconscious bias training compulsory for UK staff May 22, 2022 KPMG is set to make unconscious bias training compulsory for its 15,800 staff, just a year after company chairman Bill Michael stepped down from his position after saying he does not believe unconscious bias training works. The auditor’s plan could see staff stripped of their bonuses and come under scrutiny from their bosses, if [...]
KPMG should take blame for Carillion scandal, not junior accountant Pratik Paw, critics say May 20, 2022 Critics have said the Big Four accountancy firms should flatten their hierarchies and ensure junior colleagues are able to challenge their superiors, to ensure low ranking workers are not blamed for accounting scandals. The comments come as regulators have called for KPMG junior Pratik Paw to be fined £50,000 over his role in the scandal [...]
Nationwide posts strongest results on record on the back of Britain’s booming property market May 20, 2022 The world’s biggest building society, Nationwide, today posted its strongest financial results on record on the back of Britain’s booming property market. The mortgage lender said its underlying profits had more than doubled from £790m for the financial year 2021 to £1,604bn for the financial year 2022. Nationwide said it had performed well across its [...]
‘Live by the sword, die by the sword’: Chinese plot to take control of Congolese lithium mine could crash Australian firm’s shares May 20, 2022 A plot by a coalition of powerful Chinese battery manufacturers, to take control of the world’s biggest lithium mine, threatens to crash the share price of Australian miner AVZ Minerals, a mysterious short seller has said. AVZ Minerals could lose control over the Manano lithium mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and be [...]
KPMG plans to hikes fees by up to 20 per cent due to higher cost of staffing May 19, 2022 Big Four accountancy firm KPMG has warned clients it is planning to substantially increase its audit fees, in order to pay for higher salaries. The auditor told its clients it plans to increase fees by between 5 per cent and 20 per cent due to facing higher costs linked to new industry rules and the [...]
Ex-White & Case lawyer says he faced discrimination due to anxiety and depression May 19, 2022 A former White & Case partner has accused the firm of being a “toxic” workplace after claiming he was pushed out of his position at White & Case’s London office after developing depression due to his wife’s cancer diagnosis. Michael Wistow, the former co-head of White & Case’s EMEA tax practice, has said he was [...]
UK’s audit sector trade bodies would not object to giving Big Four fines to the government May 19, 2022 Two of the UK’s biggest audit industry trade bodies have said they would welcome any plans to see money raised through fines against auditors given over to the UK government, in order to fund Britain’s regulatory bodies. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) both [...]
Mishcon de Reya hikes salaries for newly qualified lawyers to £90,000 a year May 19, 2022 London law firm Mishcon de Reya has given its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers an eight per cent pay rise, after upping their salaries from £83,000 to £90,000. The pay hike leaves Mishcon lagging behind its Silver Circle rivals, including Ashurst and Herbert Smith Freehills, who both pay NQs salaries of £105,000 a year In a [...]
Russian oligarch’s libel lawsuit against Bellingcat founder thrown out of court May 19, 2022 A libel lawsuit brought forward by a sanctioned Russian oligarch against the founder of investigative news site Bellingcat has been thrown out of court. A High Court judge dismissed Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s lawsuit against Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins, due to the oligarch’s “repeated failure to comply with simple court orders,” following his lawyers exit from the [...]
Laurence Fox fails to get libel trial heard by a jury May 19, 2022 Laurence Fox has failed in his bid to get his libel trial heard by a jury, in what would have been the first libel case heard jury in a decade. A judge rejected the actor and right-wing political activist’s argument that Fox would not get a fair hearing as judges hearing the case may suffer [...]