US law firm eyes City skyscraper 22 Bishopsgate for new headquarters May 19, 2021 A US law firm is said to be eying up office space in the new 22 Bishopsgate skyscraper, marking a major show of confidence in the City after the pandemic. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is closing in on a deal to lease several floors in the building, which is the largest building in [...]
Childcare and chores leave professional women burned out during pandemic May 19, 2021 Female professionals in the UK have suffered a huge hit to their work-life balance during the pandemic, with many feeling burned out after juggling childcare, housework and heavy workloads for the last year. Research by Deloitte quizzed 5,000 women in 10 countries, including 500 white-collar women in the UK, and found the pandemic and subsequent [...]
ABI director general to take up partner role at KPMG May 19, 2021 Huw Evans, director general at the Association of British Insurers (ABI), will join KPMG as a partner next January in the Big Four firm’s insurance and long-term savings division. Evans had been director general at the ABI for more than six years, during which he represented the insurance industry through Brexit, Solvency II implementation, pension [...]
Carillion liquidators secure funding to take KPMG to court for audit failures May 19, 2021 Carillion’s liquidators have secured a £250m funding deal with a litigation funder to take KPMG to court for audit failures. Litigation Capital Management (LCM) will fund a claim against the Big Four firm in the Commercial Court of the High Court. Carillion’s liquidators are taking KPMG to court for perceived audit failures, resulting in losses [...]
JP Morgan Chase: Potential successors to Jamie Dimon move up as Pinto becomes sole president May 18, 2021 In a reshuffling of its top ranks, JP Morgan Chase has raised up two potential successors to chief executive Jamie Dimon while co-chief operating officer Gordon Smith will step down from his roles at the end of 2021. The two possible earmarked successors, Marianne Lake and Jennifer Piepszak, will take new roles as Daniel Pinto [...]
BDO becomes latest auditor to tell staff to work where they like May 17, 2021 BDO has told staff to decide where they would like to work post-pandemic, in a move that adopts a more flexible model than some of its rivals. The challenger audit firm will ask staff to work wherever is most productive, depending upon the task they are doing. For most people this will likely mean a [...]
Watchdog gives UHY Hacker Young a slap on the wrist for shoddy audit May 13, 2021 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has given what it described as a “severe reprimand” to UHY Hacker Young for its audit of a Malaysia-based rubber manufacturer. The FRC declared UHY Hacker Young’s 2016 audit of Inch Kenneth Kajang Rubber (IKKR) was unsatisfactory, and as a result told the accountancy firm to give staff involved in [...]
Directors to face bans for finding loopholes to avoid Covid loan repayments May 12, 2021 The Insolvency Service will be given new, beefed up powers to crack down on those looking to avoid repaying their pandemic loans. The Insolvency Service will be able to investigate and sanction company directors trying to dissolve their business to avoid repaying creditors, the Financial Times first reported. The government is reportedly keen to clamp [...]
Linklaters elects first female senior partner in 183-year history May 12, 2021 Linklaters has elected Aedamar Comiskey as its new senior partner, the first woman to serve in the role since the law firm was established in London in 1838. Comiskey will begin her five-year term on 1 July 2021, when she will succeed current senior partner Charlie Jacobs. Comiskey said: she was “hugely proud” to have [...]
Creating a new Corporate Auditor profession May 12, 2021 | City Talk ICAS has issued its Corporate Auditor report, setting out how Sir Donald Brydon’s recommendation to establish a Corporate Auditor profession could be implemented in practice. ICAS notes with interest the intention of BEIS, as proposed in its consultation paper ‘Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance’ (March 2021), to take forward the recommendation by Sir [...]