Baroness Hallett named as chair of upcoming Covid-19 inquiry December 15, 2021 Baroness Heather Hallett will chair the Covid-19 inquiry with the crossbench peer set to scrutinise the government's response to the pandemic.
Supreme Court rejects gender-neutral ‘X’ passport December 15, 2021 The Supreme Court rejected efforts this afternoon to introduce gender-neutral passports, saying 'X' gender markers would undermine a legal system that is built on a clear male-female split.
Things between Zurich and Greggs heat up as insurer insists on slicing bakery’s £100m covid claim to £2.5m December 14, 2021 Zurich Insurance has retaliated in a London court against a claim by bakery chain Greggs for between £50m to £100m in payouts for Covid-19 related losses, according to reports. The insurance giant told the court that its business interruption cover went up to £2.5m for a single event, according to Legal 360, which first reported [...]
City pay war: Baker McKenzie makes £105k bid for junior lawyers December 14, 2021 Baker McKenzie has made its entrance into the bidding war by City law firms for newly qualified lawyers by raising their salaries to £105,000. Lawyers will enjoy the new base rate of £105,000, a 17 per cent jump, from March 2022. The firm will raise pay for its trainee lawyers too, with first years earning [...]
Over 90 per cent City law firms grew profit pools despite pandemic setbacks December 13, 2021 Over 80 per cent of City law firms have also outperformed their expectations for the year, as the legal sector emerges stronger after a year interrupted by lockdowns and restrictions, according to a new report. The majority of City firms, at 91 per cent, enjoyed an increase in their profit pool and saw aggregate revenue [...]
Challenger accounting firm to list on London AIM with £21m market cap December 13, 2021 Professional services company DSW Capital will make its initial public offering (IPO) debut today, while Big Four firm rivals focus on fending themselves off from more scandals. DSW, which owns advisory firm Dow Schofield Watts, plans to place five million shares at 100 pence per share to raise gross proceeds of £5m when it lists [...]
LV= to review new Royal London takeover offer after £530m Bain bid scrapped by members December 12, 2021 Insurance mutual LV= will this week assess a takeover offer back on the table from rival Royal London after its members last week rejected a £530m takeover bid from US private equity giant Bain. In a vote on Friday, 69 per cent of LV=members who voted supported the deal with Bain – but they fell [...]
LV= chairman quits after members reject £530m Bain Capital takeover December 11, 2021 Alan Cook has stepped down as chairman of mutual insurer Liverpool Victoria after failing to secure the backing of members for a £530m deal with a US private equity firm. Cook resigned within minutes of the vote results being announced, revealing that 69 per cent of LV= members who voted supported the deal, which needed [...]
Big Four auditors will be forced to share FTSE business December 10, 2021 Plans to force FTSE 350 companies to use challenger audit firms have been signed off by the business secretary as pressure for reform mounts, according to reports. Kwasi Kwarteng wants to push ahead with a proposal to break up the dominance of the Big Four accounting firms: Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – and is [...]
Norton Rose Fulbright names new global chair as Farmida Bi December 9, 2021 Norton Rose Fulbright has named its next global chair as Farmida Bi CBE, London capital markets and Islamic finance partner. Named in the top five of a “Muslim Women Power List” by The Times among a host of legal accolades, Bi is a legal expert in debt capital markets and Islamic finance as a form [...]