Clifford Chance elect first non-London senior partner, but Magic Circle glass ceiling remains November 20, 2018 Law firm Clifford Chance today appointed its first senior partner from outside London, but the Magic Circle’s record of never having appointed a woman to a top job remained in place. Partners at the £1.6bn legal giant today elected Amsterdam office managing partner Jeroen Ouwehand as its new senior partner, a role equivalent to the [...]
Legal Q&A: How can a group of leaseholders buy the freehold of their properties if some of them are sublet? November 19, 2018 We are a group of leaseholders considering buying the freehold of our block of flats. Many of the owners sublet their flats and the rest of us are worried about potential delays and in particular, receiving funds on time. Can you advise? Many blocks, particularly in London, experience reduced owner occupancy, which does make coordinating [...]
Audit firm Grant Thornton appoints new boss after controversial exit of Sacha Romanovitch November 19, 2018 The UK’s fifth-largest audit firm Grant Thornton has appointed restructuring partner Dave Dunckley as its new chief executive, following the ousting of previous boss Sacha Romanovitch. Romanovitch, the first female boss of a large UK accounting firm, was ousted after an anonymous memo said to represent 15 partners was sent to the press criticising her [...]
Tax managers enjoy largest salary rise as tougher compliance regulation pays off November 19, 2018 Tax wonks have seen their salaries soar over the last year as businesses grapple with tougher compliance rules in the City. Operational tax managers topped the list of salary increases in 2018, enjoying a 6.7 per cent rise, according to figures from recruitment company Hays. The increase reflects the greater focus on compliance as firms [...]
The public still doesn’t understand audit – here’s why that matters November 19, 2018 A new study demonstrates the continued reality of the expectation gap – the term used within the audit sector to denote the difference between what the public think auditors’ responsibilities are, and what auditors themselves believe their responsibilities are. Only a quarter of the public understand what an audit consists of, but nearly half think auditors [...]
Two-year university degree plans to cut cost of tuition fees November 18, 2018 University students will save money on their degrees and enter the workplace sooner thanks to plans to roll out two-year courses, the Minister for Universities said today. The Department for Education said shorter university courses, also known as accelerated degrees, will be a boost both for students in higher education and for businesses looking to [...]
PwC offers muted support for audit market caps and increased oversight November 15, 2018 Britain’s biggest auditor has offered equivocal backing to a range of sector reforms, including a cap on market share for firms and more independent oversight of audit appointments. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the largest of Britain’s Big Four auditors, told the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) a limit on the number of top firms any single auditor [...]
The probate debate: How will you be affected by the changes to the unpopular death tax? November 15, 2018 While most of us will be familiar with – or at least have heard of – inheritance tax (IHT), probate fees are a little-known extra cost that many families are forced to confront when their loved ones pass away. Both IHT and probate fees are often referred to as the “death tax” – although the [...]
Here are the six (yes, six) reviews the audit sector is currently facing November 14, 2018 As 2018 continues to be the annus horribilis of audit, bean counters are finding that sector reviews are, as the saying goes, like buses. With news this week that MPs are going to launch their own super-inquiry, the sector now faces six reviews. If that seems like more than you’ve got to grips with, here’s a [...]
The pressure is on to fix the broken audit market November 14, 2018 Accountancy may be “an art, not a science”, but there needs to be less “Jackson Pollock”. That’s according to the Labour MP Rachel Reeves, chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee, who has made it her mission to fix the broken audit market. The Big Four firms (PwC, Deloitte, EY, and KPMG) are [...]