SFO publishes terms of deferred prosecution agreement with Tesco after reporting restrictions lifted January 23, 2019 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has published the full terms of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) it agreed with Tesco following the 2014 accounting scandal. Reporting restrictions around the DPA – a voluntary agreement which allows companies to forego prosecution by fulfilling certain requirements – were lifted when former Tesco director Carl Rogberg was acquitted today. [...]
Charges dropped against former Tesco executive Carl Rogberg in fraud trial January 23, 2019 The case against the third defendant in the Tesco fraud trial Carl Rogberg has been dropped today. Tesco executive Rogberg, 52, a former finance director at the supermarket giant, was charged with fraud, alongside fellow executives Chris Bush and John Scouler after a hole was found in Tesco’s accounts in 2014, wiping £1.5bn from its [...]
Rise of the bean counters: Accountants complain Oxford English Dictionary definition is ‘old-fashioned’ January 23, 2019 Accountants should not be dismissed as dull bean-counters, a major industry body has said as it takes issue with the Oxford English Dictionary's definition of the role. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (Acca) said it supports an effort by Gary Turner, the managing director of Xero, who claims that the word experts need to [...]
Government refusal to extend pay gap reporting rules to Big Four branded ‘disappointing’ January 22, 2019 The government has been accused of letting the Big Four audit firms “evade reporting on their pay ratios” by excluding firms with their business model from new legislation. The government’s small business minister refused to say whether new rules on executive pay transparency would be extended to partnerships during a grilling by MPs today. Members [...]
Watchdog investigation into KPMG’s Carillion audit at ‘critical stage’ January 22, 2019 The UK’s audit watchdog said its investigation into KPMG’s audit work for collapsed construction giant Carillion is at a “critical stage”. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) issued an update this morning on its probe into the Big Four firm following “significant public interest” in the case. Carillion’s collapse in January last year has become a [...]
Joint audit could inject some competition into the market January 22, 2019 Last week, the House of Commons’ Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy select committee opened hearings on its influential inquiry into the future of audit. Top of its agenda will be the proposed remedies set out by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in its recent review, which could bring wholesale change in the UK’s listed [...]
Shares rocket in listed law firm Keystone following strong trading update January 21, 2019 Shares in Keystone Law jumped by nearly 15 per cent today after it said it expects to be “comfortably ahead” of market profit expectations for its financial year. Keystone, which became just the third UK firm to float when it went public in November 2017, said it continued to trade strongly in the second half of [...]
Augmentum Fintech backs London will-writing startup Farewill in £7.5m round January 21, 2019 London-listed venture fund Augmentum Fintech has today announced a £4m injection into probate startup Farewill, leading the firm's £7.5m series A fundraise alongside the venture arms of the Daily Mail and M&C Saatchi. Other investors in the round included Transferwise chief executive Taavet Hinrikus, Innocent Smoothies parent firm Jamjar, Kindred Capital, Tiny VC and Venture Founders. Farewill claims [...]
Owner of celebrity-favoured Wentworth golf club sues former employee over 32,000 missing wine bottles January 20, 2019 The owner of celebrity-frequented Wentworth golf club is suing its former head of international operations over 32,000 missing bottles of wine worth £4.8m. Chinese company Reignwood has accused billionaire Ni Songhua of refusing "to provide an account of his stewardship of the wine", according to the Sunday Times. Ni told the newspaper the wine was used [...]
Consultants ‘braver’ about challenging clients who treat women inappropriately, says PwC January 17, 2019 Advisers are “getting braver about…calling out our clients” who act inappropriately towards female consultants, a partner at PwC told a tech industry event in east London today. The partnership at PwC gets “incensed” when client chief executives shout at female partners, said Mads Thomson, who leads the the professional services firm’s technology consulting business in [...]