Article 50: What happens next? November 3, 2016 The government must consult parliament before it can trigger Article 50, a court has decided today. But what does that mean for Brexit? Quickly remind me: who's involved in all of this? The case was brought to court by a number of parties but the lead claimant is businesswoman Gina Miller. Basically, they were arguing [...]
Government vows to appeal after High Court rules Article 50 cannot be triggered without Parliamentary vote November 3, 2016 The government has vowed to appeal after a High Court judge ruled the Brexit process cannot be started until Parliament has given its backing. The ruling, handed out today, means Theresa May cannot trigger Article 50 without approval from MPs. A spokesman said the government was "disappointed" by the judgement. "The country voted to leave [...]
A crackdown on VAT fraud could turn business leaders into “pariahs” October 31, 2016 Business leaders could be held personally responsible for employees going behind their back and undertaking fraudulent actions if government proposals are taken forward. An HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) consultation on VAT reform closes for comments next week and experts are staggered that the plans heighten the bar of the level of detail company directors need to know. Businesses and [...]
Brexit hasn’t impacted the number of companies going pop too much. Yet… October 28, 2016 The number of companies going bust is edging up as experts predict that it is only a matter of time before numbers may rise more rapidly as a result of the Brexit vote. The latest data, released by the government's insolvency service, reveals that there were 3,633 corporate insolvencies in the three months since Britain's decision to leave [...]
David Davis has met with professional services sector execs to get their Brexit views October 27, 2016 The Brexit secretary today met with key figures from the professional services sector. David Davis, along with ministers Robin Walker and Lord Bridges, chaired a meeting with representatives from a number of trade bodies, including the Law Society, the Bar Council, the Business Services Association and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and firms, including [...]
Libor charges are about evidence, not people, says fraud squad boss David Green October 25, 2016 The fraud squad boss today hit back at criticism his agency, which is currently investigating the Libor scandal, had busied itself with relatively junior bankers when it should be going after the bigger fish. David Green, director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), told the Justice Select Committee he and his team were obliged as prosecutors to go where [...]
Big Four rival? No, we’re old friends, insists ex-Deloitte boss as he launches Cogital – a new firm with big ambitions October 24, 2016 In August there was plenty of noise around the announcement that the former boss of accounting giant Deloitte, John Connolly, was starting a new bean-counting business, Cogital. The question was whether the project, which was innovatively backed by private equity house HgCapital, was the latest attempt to break the stranglehold of the Big Four? If anyone might be able to do it, then [...]
UK law firms still growing but competition from US firms and smaller players puts a squeeze on profits October 24, 2016 Lawyers in the UK risk being left twiddling their thumbs, as US and new firms increase competition and put a squeeze on top and bottom lines, a report out today has found. Only three-quarters (75 per cent) of the Top 100 UK law firms reported revenue growth this year, according to figures from PwC, down from [...]
Supreme Court rules HMRC conversation with The Times was ‘a matter of serious concern’ October 19, 2016 The Supreme Court has today ruled that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) breached confidence when it hosted an off the record discussion with journalists about a scheme a taxpayer was using. David Hartnett, then permanent secretary for tax at HMRC, told two journalists from The Times in 2012 that he was not a fan of film [...]
More than half of solicitors are from the first generation of their family to attend university, finds Law Society October 18, 2016 More than half (53 per cent) of solicitors in England and Wales are part of the first generation of their family to go to university, figures out today show. The diversity report by the Law Society also found that slightly over one in ten (11 per cent) of the country's solicitors in 2015 were eligible for free [...]