Three’s a party: Isle of Wight triplets all receive first-class degree in geography July 27, 2021 Three English brothers all received their first-class degrees in geography at the University of Portsmouth today. 21-year-old triplets – Charlie, Harry and Thomas White, from Wootton Bridge, Isle of Wight – all chose to study the same subject at the same university without discussing it with each other. “One of our school teachers was a [...]
Norton Rose Fulbright technical glitch causes staff gender pronouns mix up July 27, 2021 A software error resulted in a gender pronoun mixup in emails for Norton Rose Fulbright staff. The global law firm allowed its staff in Australia earlier this month to specify what pronounce they wished to be referred to by including “he/him”, “she/her” and “they/them”. But a technical problem glitch meant those staff pronouns changed randomly. [...]
PwC sued by racing car dealer for failing to spot alleged fraud July 27, 2021 PwC has been sued by the administrators of JD Classics, a racing car dealership, for allegedly failing to to spot fraud resulting in losses of over £41m. The UK’s biggest accounting firm was accused by administrators from Alvarez & Marsal of being negligent in their handling of accounts between 2016 and 2017 according to the [...]
Aon and Willis Towers Watson call off $30bn insurance mega-merger over monopoly concerns July 27, 2021 Insurance giant Aon and Willis Towers Watson have agreed to terminate their $30bn (£22.9bn) merger agreement in what would have created the world’s largest insurance broker, and have blamed U.S. regulators’ objections for unacceptable delays and uncertainty. Aon cited an “impasse” with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as the reason behind the decision to [...]
Ian Hudson given four years in prison for fraudulent trading July 26, 2021 The unauthorised financial adviser was sentenced to four years imprisonment today for fraudulently carrying on regulated activities, bringing to a close charges laid by the FCA in May. Ian James Hudson was food guilty of fraudulent trading by Judge Tomlinson at Southwark Crown Court. The length of his sentence is made up of one count of [...]
Watchdog slams KPMG for ‘unacceptable’ bank audits for third year running July 26, 2021 KPMG has been called out for failing to meet standards in its bank audits for the third year in a row, by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in a review published on Friday, that found that a third of large company audits by the biggest UK firms failed to meet standards. The industry watchdog called [...]
FRC chair says slow board appointments pose “grave risk” to the watchdog reform July 26, 2021 The interim head of the Financial Reporting Council has said there is a “grave risk” that the slow pace of appointing board members could result in delays to the watchdog’s reformation plans. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), which oversees the governance of the UK’s biggest listed companies, has been without a permanent chair since May [...]
Sigh of relief within legal community as Supreme Court upholds non-compete clause after four year battle July 23, 2021 Following an epic four year legal battle, consumer action law firm Your Lawyers won this morning a Supreme Court action against rival firm Harcus Sinclair (HSLLP). The case was closely monitored by many ,law firms in the City and across the country. The UK Supreme Court ruled today that a non-compete clause which HSLLP gave [...]
EY accused of concealing fraud in $8bn legal claim by NMC Health founder July 22, 2021 Ernst & Young, along with two other banks, face accusations it “actively concealed” a six-year fraud from investors in a new lawsuit over its auditing work for NMC Health, according to reports. BR Shetty, the Indian-born founder of the hospital operator, filed a court document in New York, alleging that the company had been subject [...]
EY Parthenon brings on former government advisor Mats Persson as partner July 22, 2021 EY has announced the appointment of Mats Persson, a former chief of staff to Sajid Javid, as a partner in its strategy and transactions business. Persson had already been acting as an independent advisor over the last year, designing strategies for transport and energy companies, the auditing giant said in a statement published last week. [...]