German audit watchdog head faces investigation over Wirecard share trading December 11, 2020 Head of German audit watchdog Apas Ralf Bose is facing an investigation after admitting buying and selling shares in Wirecard while the regulator was investigating the troubled payments firm. Bose, who has headed up German audit watchdog Apas since 2016 and is a former senior partner at KPMG, told a German parliamentary inquiry into [...]
Mastercard loses £14bn class action ruling in UK Supreme Court for overcharging 46m Brits December 11, 2020 A £14bn class action against Mastercard for allegedly overcharging more than 46m people in Britain over a 15-year period has been given the go-ahead by the UK Supreme Court this morning. The ruling means the case will now head for a second hearing at the Competition Appeal Tribunal so a decision can be made on [...]
Lengthy audits cut into BDO profits as firm defends use of furlough scheme December 10, 2020 Audits carried out during the coronavirus pandemic have taken between 5 and 10 per cent longer than they would typically, creating extra expense for clients and smaller profits for BDO. Profits at the audit and consultancy firm suffered somewhat in the 2019/20 financial year, with the firm making a profit of £137m, down from a [...]
Lookers switches auditor from Deloitte to BDO after £19m vanishes from its books December 10, 2020 BDO will be appointed the next auditor of vehicle retailer Lookers after a difficult final year with Deloitte that saw £19m vanish from its books. Lookers had been audited by Deloitte for the previous 14 years. The Big Four firm first began auditing the business on 31 December 2006. Lookers’ ran into trouble with Deloitte [...]
DWF CEO: ‘We’ve equalled our Beirut blast work from Covid claims already’ December 10, 2020 There will plenty of legal work arising from coronavirus-related negligence claims, and listed law firm DWF has already started to see the work pile in. Negligence claims are likely to rise from individuals who lost loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic, and according to DWF CEO Sir Nigel Knowles, the listed law firm has already [...]
Deutsche Bank executive steps aside amid Wirecard probe December 9, 2020 Deutsche Bank’s head of accounting is reportedly stepping aside after German prosecutors launched another probe into Wirecard. Former EY partner Andreas Loetscher who joined Deutsche two years ago is set to “temporarily” set aside. The bank’s chief financial officer James von Moltke said Loetscher’s temporary replacement was taken “at Andreas’ request and in mutual agreement,” [...]
Refusal to return to the office post-coronavirus ‘could be grounds for dismissal’ December 7, 2020 Employees who refuse to return to the office post-coronavirus despite being asked to do so could be in breach of contract and face dismissal. Employers had the right to apply to work flexibly before the pandemic, and will be able to do so post-pandemic, too. However, if an employer refuses that application, and the employee’s [...]
Rising private equity star on making it in the City as a woman in 2020 December 3, 2020 Diversity and equality are increasingly on the radar of City firms. Serious priorities or mere marketing spiel? City A.M.‘s Michiel Willems sat down with Sunaina Sinha Haldea, founder and CEO of Cebile Capital, a London-based placement agent and secondaries advisor in private equity and infrastructure. The Harvard graduate is also an angel investor and serves [...]
High profile retailer failures will ‘once again shine spotlight on auditors’ December 3, 2020 A possible avalanche of corporate failures could once again shine the spotlight on auditors, according to Menzies partner James Hadfield. The partner said he could foresee more failures coming, and believed it likely auditors would become a talking point in the process. The high street is having a particularly tough time at the moment, with [...]
Ince Group: ‘‘Rightsizing’ our office is an idea with legs’ December 1, 2020 The Ince Group is mulling “rightsizing” its office in wake of changes to working patterns brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, CEO Adrian Biles told City A.M. In today’s half year results the listed law firm recorded a revenue increase of six per cent to £48.2m, despite challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Biles said [...]