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 [...]
ReSolve launches £100 million SME-focused investment fund April 15, 2021 ReSolve has partnered with investment firm RoundShield to launch a new £100m SME-focussed investment fund that will invest in Covid-hit businesses. ReSolve said the extra cash will allow it to work with more businesses, including those that may be struggling since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. ReSolve is a London boutique advisory and investment [...]
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 [...]
Judge to decide if PwC US lawfully sacked whistleblower April 14, 2021 Following a nine-day trial, a judge will decide if PwC US broke the law by firing a senior manager for blowing the whistle on the Big Four firm’s allegedly cosy relationship with two tech companies it audited. Former PwC senior manager Mauro Botta accused audit giant of firing him because he submitted complaints to the [...]
Enforcement of judgments: Brussels opposes UK entry to the Lugano Convention legal pact April 13, 2021 Brussels is pushing for the UK to not be able to join the Lugano Convention, an international legal pact, after officials held a crunch meeting yesterday. The EU is reportedly against allowing the UK to join the convention on the grounds that it is not a member of the European Economic Area or the European [...]