SFO director Lisa Osofsky wants agency to crack down on ‘corporate big boys’ December 18, 2018 The director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has said she wants the agency to be able to go after the "corporate big boys" who typically evade prosecution for economic crime and fraud. Ex-FBI lawyer turned SFO director Lisa Osofsky told the Justice Select Committee that senior individuals within large corporate organisations were not being [...]
Audit sector faces huge shake-up as new reports make radical recommendations December 18, 2018 The stage has been set for a radical shake-up of the UK’s audit sector, following the release of two highly-anticipated reports. Britain’s audit watchdog, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), should be scrapped and replaced with a new statutory body, Sir John Kingman’s review of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has said. Meanwhile, the Competition and Markets [...]
The Kingman review, digested: Five key points from today’s report December 18, 2018 Today saw the release of two big reports into the audit sector: Sir John Kingman’s review of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), and the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) interim report into competition in the audit sector. The CMA – which has opened a can of worms by putting a radical split of professional services [...]
Could the UK be on the brink of a US-style class action explosion? December 16, 2018 The Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group, Tesco, Google and Mastercard. These are just a handful of the household names that have been targeted in group action lawsuits in the UK with billions of pounds at stake. The UK, unlike the US or Australia, does not have a long history of class action-style lawsuits, [...]
Inquests and inquiries: The role of the family and equality of arms December 14, 2018 Inquests and public inquiries play a vital role in uncovering the truth when things go wrong. This is obvious when we look at recent high profile inquests and inquiries: the Hillsborough inquest, the Grenfell Inquiry, the Westminster Bridge inquest and the upcoming inquest into the Manchester terrorist attack. The public rightly expect proper scrutiny of [...]
Report into audit sector commissioned by John McDonnell calls for break-up of Big Four December 14, 2018 A report into the audit sector commissioned by shadow chancellor John McDonnell has called for the break-up of the Big Four audit firms. The report, published today, recommended that the audit business of accounting firms must be legally separate from everything else and says it should be a criminal offence for auditors to perform non-audit [...]
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 [...]