CMA launches probe into £1.9bn merger between National Express and Stagecoach January 26, 2022 The UK competition watchdog said this morning it has launched an investigation into the £1.9bn merger between National Express and Stagecoach due to concerns over the tie-up. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had served a so-called initial enforcement order, which stops the companies from fully combining while it considers the deal. Stagecoach [...]
Credit Suisse beats investment banker in London court as £66m espionage case is thrown out January 26, 2022 A former Credit Suisse banker’s £66m lawsuit was rejected yesterday afternoon as a London court found that the banking giant was under no obligation to protect its former employee from the risk of criminal charges while he was working in Romania. Vadim Benyatov had demanded $89m, or nearly £66m, in lost earnings after a court [...]
High Court blocks barrister’s appeal against six-month suspension for making lewd comments to woman on mini-pupillage January 25, 2022 The High Court has rejected an appeal put forward by a criminal barrister from Manchester against a decision to suspend him from practice for six months for making inappropriate comments to a woman he had brought into his office on work experience. Criminal barrister Michael Kearney was suspended from practice for six months, in March [...]
£150,000 salaries are “out-of-control” and will see lawyers burn out before they hit 30, top in-house lawyer says January 25, 2022 One of Britain’s most prominent in-house lawyers has said the “eye-watering sums” being paid out to newly qualified lawyers have gotten “out-of-control,” whilst claiming that solicitors on £150,000 salaries will burn out “before they hit 30.” The comments come after New York headquartered law firm Milbank last week upped the stakes in the battle for [...]
Audit watchdog is ‘in poor state’, says FRC candidate for chair: ‘This is really not the way to run a regulator’ January 25, 2022 Sir Jan du Plessis, the government’s preferred candidate to head the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), has said the independent regulator is now in a “pretty poor state” due to the failures of its top level managers. Du Plessis, who has previously chaired some of Britain’s major companies including BT and Lloyds TSB, vowed to “address [...]
Metropolitan Police told to pay £230k to eco-activist tricked into relationship by undercover police officer January 25, 2022 The Metropolitan Police have been told to pay £230k to an environmental activist who was deceived into entering a long-term relationship with an undercover police officer, who had been sent out to gather intelligence on protest movements. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal ordered the Metropolitan Police to pay £229,471.96 for breaching the activist’s human rights, after [...]
“One size-fits-all approach doesn’t work,” Salesforce chief says in response to 4-day work week January 25, 2022 The CEO of Salesforce UK and Ireland has said workers should be allowed to decide “how, when, and where they work,” in response to calls for a four-day work week. Zahra Bahrololoumi, CEO of Salesforce UKI, said “a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work” as she claimed that Covid-19 has “accelerated a revolution” in the way [...]
Companies House to close two ageing online portals in push to make web services more accessible January 25, 2022 Companies House has confirmed that it will close two of its online web portals, with a view to focusing on its main web service. In a statement, Companies House said it would be closing its Companies House Direct (CHD) and WebCHeck services, as it urged users to use its Find and update company information service [...]
Raising pension age led to record rates of over-65s employment January 25, 2022 The government’s decision to up the state pension age from 65 to 66 has seen higher number of 65-year-olds staying in work than at any point since at least the 1970s. However, poorer people with less education were significantly more likely to stay in work than richer people with university degrees. Becky O’Connor, Head of [...]
Data experts team up with Google, Microsoft and Mastercard for new UK post-Brexit govt council January 25, 2022 In order to boost cross-border data flow and trade post-Brexit, the government has set up a new council that comprises of a group of data experts from industry giants and academia. The International Data Transfer Expert Council will include representatives from the likes of Google, Mastercard and Microsoft when it meets for the first time [...]