BHS fiasco could spark a Cadbury moment for takeover rules, says top City law firm June 2, 2016 The ongoing BHS debacle could cause the government to have a Cadbury moment and change the Takeover Code, a City law firm has said today. Pinsent Masons believes that the level of public interest in the high street retailer's administration, and the £1 sale to Retail Acquisitions that took place just one year beforehand, may force a rethink to the [...]
Decision on super exam for lawyers delayed June 1, 2016 The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has today delayed making a decision on the introduction of a so-called super exam. While the SRA maintained in its announcement that it still believed there was a strong case for the Solicitors Qualifying Exam, it has extended its timetable to work out some of the detail. Read more: Criminal justice system [...]
Key advisers on the £1 sale of BHS are being asked to reveal their fees June 1, 2016 The two key advisers on the BHS sale to Retail Acquisitions have today been asked to reveal their fees. The Work and Pensions select committee, which is overseeing one of the two inquiries currently examining the BHS fiasco, has written to representatives from accountancy firm Grant Thornton and law firm Olswang for more details on how [...]
Deloitte has added 80 new partners, 30 per cent of which are women May 31, 2016 Accountancy giant Deloitte has added 80 new partners, 24 of which are women, as the company pushes to improve its gender diversity. The new roles fall predominantly in London, with 56 of the partners working in the capital. It was recently revealed that women in London work 10 days more per year than the rest of the UK’s female [...]
MPs warn that criminal justice system is “close to breaking point” May 27, 2016 MPs are today warning that the country's criminal justice system is "close to breaking point", with many witnesses disheartened and victims facing a "postcode lottery". In its most recent report, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) slams the Ministry of Justice for being too slow to recognise that the system is under serious strain and that those seeking justice [...]
Panama Papers law firm Mossack Fonseca to close Jersey office May 26, 2016 Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the heart of the Panama Paper's scandal, was reported to be closing its offices in Jersey today. The BBC reported that the office closure is officially part of a wider restructuring project, which will also involving shutting its activities in the Isle of Man and Gibraltar, rather than being directly [...]
French headquarters of McDonald’s raided by police as workers in the US form a protest ahead of shareholder meeting May 26, 2016 The French headquarters of fast food chain McDonalds were raided by police earlier this month, it has been revealed today, as workers rallied outside the US headquarters ahead of the company's shareholder meeting. It has been reported by Reuters that the search took place as part of a tax fraud investigation. A McDonald’s spokesperson said: [...]
The initiative that’s earned HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) more than half a billion in five years May 26, 2016 The taxman revealed today that its 140 targeted taskforces have helped it to track down more than £500m in five years. Since 2011, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has used taskforces to carry out focused bursts of enforcement activity, including crackdowns on the retail sector, the tobacco industry and the adult entertainment industry. The taskforces have gone from strength [...]
Fraud reaching “epidemic” levels, costing the UK economy more than £6,000 per second or almost £200bn a year May 25, 2016 Fraud is costing the UK economy nearly £200bn per year – or more than £6,000 per second – with businesses being the biggest targets, a report out today has discovered. The study discovered that the private sector was losing roughly £144bn of the £193bn total lost to fraud every year. In particular, procurement fraud, such as issuing fake invoices and [...]
Three men receive sentence totalling just short of 21 years for £79.5m Ponzi scheme fraud May 24, 2016 Three men have today been sentenced to a total of just under 21 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme, which defrauded investors of an estimated £79.5m. Jolan Saunders, 40, was sentenced to seven years for conspiracy to defraud and one year, which will run concurrently, for acting as a director while disqualified. Meanwhile, Michael Strubel, 54, and Spencer Steinberg, [...]