BDO may be forced to bail out Spanish sister firm after €126.8m penalty October 7, 2020 Accountancy firm BDO may be forced to bail out its Spanish sister company which has been slapped with a €126.8m (£115m) over its role in an accounting scandal. BDO was among those convicted by Spain’s highest criminal court for its involvement in falsifying the accounts of fishing firm Pescanova between 2010 and 2012. The Audiencia [...]
FRC delays appointment of Keith Skeoch as interim chair October 1, 2020 The appointment of City veteran Keith Skeoch as chair of the audit watchdog has reportedly been delayed despite having been signed off by the business secretary. The plan to name Skeoch as interim chair of the Financial Reporting Council has been delayed due to a failure in Whitehall to rubber-stamp the appointment, according to Sky [...]
UK watchdog to accuse KPMG of breaches in Carillion audit September 21, 2020 The UK’s accountancy watchdog has said it has delivered an initial report of KPMG’s audit of collapsed outsourcer Carillion, indicating it found a number of breaches made by the firm. After a preliminary investigation, the Financial Reporting Council would either close the enforcement case or, if breaches have been found, deliver an initial investigation report. [...]
Deloitte hit with record £15m fine over Autonomy audit September 17, 2020 The FRC has announced sanctions against Deloitte and two audit partners following an investigation into its audit of software firm Autonomy. The Big Four accounting firm, and two of its now former partners, Richard Knights and Nigel Mercer, were investigated in relation to their audit of Autonomy’s financial statements for 2009 and 2010. Autonomy was [...]
Impersonation scams up 84 per cent amid coronavirus crisis September 16, 2020 Impersonation scams were up by 84 per cent in the first half of the year as criminals tried to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to take people’s money, according to a new report. Banking body UK Finance said there were 15,000 impersonation scams reported to its members between January and June. That was an [...]
Burford Capital gets green light for dual listing in New York September 14, 2020 Aim-listed Burford Capital has received approval from the New York Stock Exchange for a dual listing of its shares. The litigation funder, which listed on London’s Aim exchange in 2009, said it had received approval “subject to customary listing condition”. Burford Capital announced plans to list in the US in July shortly after a renewed [...]
Deloitte starts audit split – the first of the Big Four to do so September 11, 2020 Deloitte will set up an audit governance board, making it the first of the Big Four accounting firms to make headway with demands from the UK regulator. The audit governance board will be effective from 1 January 2021. It will be chaired by Baroness Margaret Ford, who currently chairs Scottish media group STV and real [...]
Lawyers consider ‘virtual’ firms in response to coronavirus September 9, 2020 A growing number of lawyers are pivoting to “virtual” firms as they consider life outside of the traditional office environment due to the pandemic. There has been a seven per cent rise in the number of lawyers at virtual firms in the UK since the outbreak of coronavirus according to business advisory firm Hazlewoods. There [...]
Listed law firm DWF sees revenue jump after coronavirus chaos September 8, 2020 Listed law firm DWF said that strong trading in the first three months of the new financial year had helped offset the impact of the coronavirus. In a first quarter trading update released this morning, the firm said both revenue and earnings were “materially ahead” of where they were last year. DWF also released its [...]
15 years that changed the world of journalism and audit September 7, 2020 The world was a very different place 15 Septembers ago. Tony Blair was settling into his final term as Prime Minister after winning Labour’s third consecutive election. England’s cricketers retained the Ashes after the most thrilling series in memory. Oasis topped the singles charts for the very last time. And in September 2005, the UK [...]