Big Four and challengers ask for leeway on difficult audits to avoid public criticism April 27, 2021 The Big Four and the challenger audit firms have asked the accountancy watchdog for more leniency when it comes to more difficult audit jobs, for fear of public criticism if they make a mistake. Audit firms have asked the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to pause quality inspections of their work for a year if they [...]
KPMG’s ex-interim CEO Mary O’Connor in talks about leaving after being passed up for the top job April 23, 2021 Mary O’Connor, who was the first woman to head up KPMG, is in advanced talks to leave the firm after being passed over for the top job. O’Connor is close to agreeing the details of her exit, Sky News first reported, and a statement on her future at the company could be made in the [...]
Staff hauled out millions of euros in cash from Wirecard’s HQ in Aldi and Lidl shopping bags April 23, 2021 Wirecard employees hauled out millions of euros in cash from the group’s Munich headquarters, according to former employees. Former employees told Munich police that staff repeatedly removed large sums of cash in Aldi and Lidl plastic bags from Wirecard’s HQ, the Financial Times first reported. The practice started as early as 2012, and suggests fraudulent [...]
UK will stay financial services leader without EU equivalence deal, says KPMG boss April 23, 2021 If the UK and EU fail to agree an equivalence deal it will not be the end of the world, according to KPMG’s head of FS Karim Haji, who was feeling upbeat about the future of financial services in the UK. Haji, who was made KPMG’s head of FS in June 2019, acknowledged an equivalence [...]
Clifford Chance to make redundancies in London April 22, 2021 Clifford Chance has launched a redundancy scheme that will see tens of London-based employees leave the law firm. The Magic Circle law firm will make between 44 and 73 people redundant in the capital, with those working as legal support secretaries and in the document production unit and the mail room to be affected. The [...]
City needs EU equivalence deal to function properly, warns asset management chief April 22, 2021 The UK government should step up efforts to secure an equivalence deal for financial services as such an agreement is “very important” for the Square Mile, the CEO of one of the world’s largest asset managers has said. Hanneke Smits, who leads BNY Mellon Investment Managers, urged the government to reach an agreement with the [...]
Audit sector ‘failing society and needs reform’ warns think tank April 21, 2021 The UK’s audit sector is “failing society” by coming up short when assessing firms’ finances and governance, leaving the door open to costly, Carillion-style business collapses, according to think tank IPPR. The think tank said there is an “expectation gap” between what audit currently assesses and what it needs to assess to fulfil the [...]
Deutsche Bank board member investigated over alleged insider trading April 19, 2021 Germany’s financial regulator has reportedly filed a criminal complaint against a Deutsche Bank board member over alleged insider trading of Wirecard shares. BaFin has filed a complaint against Alexander Schutz over suspicions he used insider information in 2019 and 2020 when trading Wirecard shares, the Financial Times reported. Munich prosecutors told the newspaper they had [...]
Blacklist audit firms for fraud failures, urges Pirc April 19, 2021 Large audit firms that are deemed not to be working hard enough to root out corporate fraud will be blacklisted in this year’s annual shareholder meetings by Pirc. Pirc has urged investors have not to reappoint PwC, KPMG, EY or Grant Thornton because it believes they have not done enough to improve their fraud detection [...]
Pandemic pushes corporates’ legal spend higher April 15, 2021 Law firms are one of the few winners in the pandemic with corporates planning to increase legal spend this year, new research shows. Some 38 per cent of UK companies polled by Thomson Reuters are planning to increase their legal spend, almost twice as many planning to make cuts. It is partly driven by demand [...]