Hybrid law firm and funds adviser MJ Hudson targeting December float December 5, 2019 Hybrid law firm and fund adviser MJ Hudson is lining up a mid-December listing on London’s junior market. The firm has appointed broker Cenkos Securities to advise on the float and has issued a schedule one document as a first stage in the listing process. The firm was founded by former SJ Berwin private equity [...]
KPMG sells pensions arm in private equity-backed management buyout December 5, 2019 KPMG has sold its pensions arm in a management buyout backed by private equity firm Exponent. KPMG said today it had signed a conditional agreement to sell its pensions practice to Newco, which is backed by Exponent and KPMG’s 20 pensions partners. All 20 partners and 500 staff will transfer to the new business, which [...]
UK legal sector generated £35.8bn in 2018 December 5, 2019 Revenue generated by legal activities in the UK increased six per cent year-on-year in 2018 to hit £35.5bn, according to a report published today. The report by lobby group TheCityUK said the output of legal services in terms of gross value added (GVA) was £26.8bn, or 1.5 per cent of total UK GVA in 2017 [...]
Ex-Baker McKenzie boss admits sexually harassing lawyer ‘half his age’ December 4, 2019 The former London managing partner of Baker McKenzie Gary Senior today admitted sexually harassing a lawyer “half his age” in 2012. Senior has been accused of breaching professional standards after sexually harassing a junior lawyer (Person A) after a night of drinking and then allegedly interfering in the internal investigation into the incident. Senior was [...]
Junior lawyer felt ‘cast aside’ by Baker McKenzie after alleged sexual harassment December 3, 2019 A junior lawyer who was allegedly sexually harassed by Baker Mckenzie’s former London managing partner Gary Senior said she felt like she was “cast aside” by the firm following the incident in 2012. Giving evidence to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal today, the lawyer (known as Person A), said: “My feeling at the time was I [...]
Baker Mckenzie boss ‘propositioned’ junior lawyer at 3am after night of drinking December 2, 2019 Former Baker Mckenzie London managing partner Gary Senior propositioned a junior lawyer at 3am after asking her to stay behind in his hotel room, a tribunal heard today. The incident took place in 2012 but was hushed up by the firm, with Senior keeping his job and the junior lawyer (Person A) leaving with a [...]
Big Four client numbers fall but FTSE 100 stranglehold remains December 2, 2019 The number of clients audited by the Big Four accountancy firms has fallen but they retain an iron grip on the FTSE 100, figures published today show. Figures from Adviser Rankings for the quarter to 6 November showed the number of stock market clients audited by PwC (353), KPMG (312) and Deloitte (225) all fell [...]
Big Four firm PwC cracks down on drinking alcohol in the office December 1, 2019 Big Four accountancy firm PwC has cracked down on drinking alcohol in the office. Under new rules introduced this year, alcohol can only be drunk on PwC premises when it has been supplied by the firm’s in-house catering team at specially designated events. A spokesperson for the firm said: “As part of the regular review [...]
General Election 2019: Conservative Party to ditch central tenet of Big Four audit reform plans November 25, 2019 The Conservatives will throw out a proposal to impose mandatory joint auditors on large companies if they win the General Election. Officials at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) have in recent weeks indicated that the system is unlikely to be introduced as part of wider reform of the auditing sector, Sky [...]
KPMG slashes headcount in transformation unit amid cost cutting drive November 20, 2019 KPMG is making redundancies in its in-house project management team as part of a campaign to slash millions of pounds in costs. KPMG told more than half of the staff in its transformation centre of expertise (TCE) this week that their jobs were at risk of redundancy, Sky News reported. The unit works across KPMG [...]