Deloitte Legal to recruit trainee lawyers for first time as Big Four continue legal expansion September 10, 2019 Deloitte Legal will offer training contracts to aspiring lawyers for the first time from today, as the Big Four continue their expansion into the legal sector. Deloitte launched a UK legal practice in 2018, becoming the last of the Big Four firms to do so. Today the firm opened applications for up to 10 training [...]
Sage kicks off sale of payments-processing business September 9, 2019 Sage has lined up bankers to find a buyer for its payments-processing arm Sage Pay. Investment bank Rothschild has been appointed to sell the business, which has around 50,000 small and medium sized business customers, Sky News reported. Read more: Sage shares fall as it warns of slipping license software sales It is unclear what [...]
HMRC at risk of not delivering on prosecution targets as Brexit slows tax evasion enforcement September 9, 2019 Lawyers it is “disappointing” that HMRC is on track to miss targets for cracking down on tax evasion and avoidance. The tax authority had set itself a target of increasing the number of criminal investigations that it undertakes into serious and complex tax crime to 100 a year by the end of parliament. However, in [...]
Hell for Leaither: DWF boss on the firm’s post-float fortunes September 8, 2019 DWF is a firm that lawyers at rival firms love to hate. Founded in Liverpool 40 years ago, DWF has expanded at a rapid pace, growing from a regional player to an international firm, swallowing rivals along the way. Over the last decade its revenue grew nearly 350 per cent to £272m, and in March, [...]
Forex firm hit with record £7.8m fine by HMRC for anti-money laundering failures September 4, 2019 West London money transmitter Touma Foreign Exchange has been fined a record £7.8m by HMRC for breaching anti-money laundering regulations. The taxman said today it fined the Greenford-based firm “for breaching strict regulations, which could have left them at the mercy of criminals looking to wash dirty cash”. Read more: Serious Fraud Office prosecutes just [...]
Court throws out privacy challenge to facial recognition technology in landmark ruling September 4, 2019 The High Court today rejected a privacy challenge to the use of facial recognition technology in a landmark ruling. The High Court found that the use of automatic facial recognition technology (AFR) by South Wales police was lawful after a challenge by privacy campaigner Ed Bridges who was represented by advocacy group Liberty. AFR technology [...]
UK’s top law firms boost average partner pay to £750,000 September 3, 2019 Average partner profits at the UK’s top 50 law firms hit £750,000 last year as the sector continued to expand despite an uncertain economic and political backdrop. Nine firms posted average profit per equity partner (pep) of over £1m, according to new research published today by website Legal Week. Partners at Magic Circle firm Slaughter [...]
Allen & Overy’s US merger talks with O’Melveny & Myers collapse September 2, 2019 Magic Circle firm Allen & Overy’s longrunning merger talks with US firm O’Melveny & Myers have collapsed, the firm said today. In a statement, the firm said: “Allen & Overy and O’Melveny & Myers have held discussions about a possible combination and, despite agreeing that there were some compelling synergies between us and that it [...]
When business partners behave badly: How to rein in a shady coworker September 2, 2019 In the wake of the #MeToo movement, there has been a great deal of focus on how to tackle the toxic work culture that exists in some industries and businesses. Many companies have been pushing for cultural change, motivated by the desire to create inclusive work environments, and limit the reputational and financial damage that [...]
Auditor ranking race narrows as FTSE 100 firms spread out September 2, 2019 Prized FTSE 100 clients are now more evenly spread out among the Big Four accountancy giants than at any time in almost 15 years, with some of the UK’s top auditors losing out to their rivals after an intense year of scrutiny and high-profile failures. The blue-chip client league table for auditors has “never been [...]