Grant Thornton caught up in conflict of interest accusations over Greensill Capital appointment March 21, 2021 Grant Thornton is facing accusations of a conflict of interest connected to its role as administrator of Greensill Capital, after it emerged the auditor had previously advised the firm’s biggest debtor Sanjeev Gupta on a string of deals. Grant Thornton was appointed as Greensill’s administrator on Monday after the finance firm collapsed when Credit Suisse [...]
Exclusive: Texas law firm Vinson & Elkins on half a century in London March 20, 2021 Texan law firm Vinson & Elkins just celebrated 50 years in London, having set up shop in the capital in 1971 to take advantage of the booming oil and gas industry, after oil was discovered in the North Sea. The firm began its London life with two English lawyers working in temporary space near Piccadilly [...]
Corona Impact Series: How a Shoreditch expense-tech bounced back during lockdown March 20, 2021 In this series, City A.M. looks at the financial and economic impact of the ongoing pandemic on a range of small and medium-sized businesses across London. Today: How an expense-tech scale-up helped businesses keep track of their spending when spending dropped through the floor. Before the pandemic, Jeppe Rindom, co-founder and CEO of Pleo – [...]
Freshfields to let staff work from home half of the time post-Covid March 19, 2021 Freshfields will allow staff to work from home for up to 50 per cent of the time when coronavirus restrictions are eased. The magic circle law firm has told staff they can work from home for half of the time, providing that any arrangements take account of client and business commitments. Freshfields said the new [...]
Financial services firms admit they do not have carbon neutral targets in place March 19, 2021 Financial services firms are struggling with net zero targets, with more than half (51%) of firms saying they do not yet have a target in place to achieve carbon neutral status. Just 18 per cent of financial services firms have a plan to achieve carbon neutral status by 2025, and 16 per cent claim they [...]
Sarbanes-Oxley-style audit reform ‘to cost business more than £430m a year’ March 18, 2021 Businesses face paying hundreds of millions of pounds more every year under plans to reform the audit sector and crack down on shoddy practices at the UK’s largest firms. More than £430m could be added to businesses costs as a result of the proposals, according to analyses carried out by the Financial Times. This morning [...]
UK audit shakeup: Big Four face FTSE client caps, new watchdog and a clampdown on directors March 18, 2021 Big Four dominance in the UK audit market may be diluted under new plans announced today that would see stricter regulation of the sector and executives at major firms. The government hopes the proposals, published in a consultation today by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), will lead to greater transparency in [...]
Insolvencies fell to two-year low in February March 17, 2021 The number of company insolvencies last month stood at 686, the lowest monthly number recorded since January 2019. Figures released by the government’s Insolvency Service found the number of company insolvencies in February 2021 was 49 per cent lower than the same month in the previous year. February 2020 marked the month before the UK [...]
UK borrowers impacted by pandemic face rising mortgage payments, L&G warns March 17, 2021 UK borrowers who have suffered a drop in income during the pandemic could soon be paying thousands of pounds more in monthly mortgage repayments, according to the latest research. The survey by Legal & General Mortgage Club found that one in three borrowers are considering staying on their current lender’s Standard Variable Rate (SVR) once [...]
Begbies Traynor boss on pandemic insolvencies: ‘The worst is yet to come’ March 16, 2021 Begbies Traynor boss on pandemic insolvencies: 'The worst is yet to come'