Capita shares fall after £495m British Army recruitment contract fails to meet targets December 14, 2018 Outsourcing firm Capita has suffered another blow today, after a government report found it has failed to meet targets in a £495m recruitment contract for the British Army every year since it began. Awarded the contract in 2012, an investigation by the National Audit Office (NAO) said Capita and the Army "underestimated the complexity of the project, [...]
Competition and Markets Authority to recommend market share cap for Big Four audit firms December 13, 2018 The UK's top four audit firms are facing a market share cap to encourage competition from smaller companies as the sector comes under increased scrutiny following a number of high profile corporate collapses. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is expected to recommend a limit on the number of large listed companies that the so-called Big [...]
Legal Q&A: I live outside the UK and I am considering buying a pied-a-terre in London. Would it save UK tax if I bought it through a company, or should I buy it in my name? December 13, 2018 Until a few years ago, the general advice for a non-UK resident buying UK residential property was often to buy through a non-UK company. A key benefit was that it would provide a shelter from inheritance tax (IHT). Non-domiciliaries only pay IHT on UK assets and if the property was held by a company, the [...]
Supreme Court rules against Scottish replacement for Westminster Brexit bill December 13, 2018 The Supreme Court has decided parts of a Scottish law passed to take control over areas such as farming and fishing after Brexit are “outside of the legislative competence” of the Scottish parliament. Holyrood passed its own Brexit legislation in March after disagreeing with Westminster’s own Brexit bill. Most of the Holyrood bill was within [...]
Give accountants the tools they need to fight money laundering December 13, 2018 THE GOVERNMENT estimates that around $90bn of dirty money comes through the UK each year. Inevitably, this money eventually comes into contact with finance professionals, which has prompted charges of widespread ethical failures. Clearly, there are people with financial skills who are knowingly laundering money. But the truth is more nuanced than the frequent accusations [...]
Want to master the art of negotiation? You need emotional intelligence December 13, 2018 With so much focus on the detail – or lack thereof – in the UK’s proposed agreement for leaving the EU, you could be forgiven for thinking that deal-making is a technocrat’s art. For the negotiation teams here in the UK and Europe, technical expertise and competences about the issues at stake are, of course, [...]
EY and PwC reveal that both dismissed five partners over inappropriate behaviour December 11, 2018 The final two Big Four financial services firms have disclosed the number of partners that have left the companies following allegations of inappropriate behaviour. PwC fired five partners for inappropriate behaviour including harassment or bullying over the last three years. EY revealed that five partners had left the company over a four year period, becoming [...]
And BDO makes five? Don’t count on it, says firm’s global chief December 11, 2018 The global boss of professional services firm BDO had said it has no ambitions to join the ranks of the Big Four, as it aims for dominance of the mid-market across its operations. The firm, Britain’s sixth-largest auditor, revealed its global fee income hit $8.99bn (£7.16bn) for the past year – a 10.7 per cent [...]
Seven KPMG partners left the firm over inappropriate behaviour including bullying and sexual harassment within four-year period December 10, 2018 A total of seven KPMG partners have left the financial services firm over the last four years following accusations of inappropriate behaviour, including sexual harassment and bullying. The revelation comes after it was reported that fellow ‘Big Four’ firm Deloitte fired 20 partners for similar behaviour over the same period and as workplace culture faces [...]
Tesco fraud fiasco leaves new SFO boss with serious questions to answer December 6, 2018 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has had more ups and downs than Thomas Cook’s share price. When it scores a big success, like the near £500m deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with Rolls-Royce, it gets cheered to the rafters, while failures such as the Tchenguiz brothers debacle sees it dubbed the Serious Farce Office by critics. [...]