Rolls-Royce to pay £671m to settle corruption probes with three global fraud squads January 16, 2017 Rolls-Royce is in the final stages of locking down corruption and bribery probe settlements worth £671m in total with three authorities around the world, with the lion's share going to the UK's fraud squad. The British engineering company today announced today it has reached in principle a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), [...]
Mazars opts for Verity to lead the firm for the next four years January 16, 2017 Many workers in the Square Mile may be dusting off their CVs, thinking a change will assuage downbeat sentiment experienced on Blue Monday. But the head of one accountancy firm may beg to differ and is proof that sticking with one firm can pay dividends. Phil Verity has been re-elected as the senior partner of mid-sized accountancy firm [...]
Article 127 court hearing now due in February, as the government awaits answer to Article 50 legal battle January 15, 2017 A court hearing that could cause a headache for Prime Minister Theresa May, as she plans to trigger Article 50, has been postponed until early February. A case brought last year argues the government cannot leave the Single Market without triggering Article 127 of the European Economic Area agreement – and says it must seek approval [...]
Employers must act early when strike action looms: Industrial action and what can be done January 13, 2017 Strike action is continuing to cause significant disruption for commuters, business travellers and holidaymakers in early 2017 – but could it have been prevented? Southern Rail has announced that it is going ahead with three-day stoppages of its train services this month – the first started this week – and British Airways’ cabin crew held a 48-hour strike [...]
Government wants to restore faith in Britain’s businesses by shaking up corporate crime laws January 13, 2017 The government has unveiled plans to get tough on corporate crime in an attempt to hold businesses to account for any unscrupulous behaviour. The Ministry of Justice is concerned the bar is set too high for proving criminal offences such as fraud, money laundering and false accounting, meaning many prosecutions are successful. "Companies must be held [...]
Hays finance chief says Brexit uncertainty makes hiring overseas a logical choice for City firms January 12, 2017 The UK’s largest recruitment firm said City firms would choose job creation in Germany or France ahead of Britain while Brexit uncertainty remains. Hays revealed trading in the UK, which represents around a quarter of its global operations, had fallen for the second quarter in a row, down 10 per cent on a like-for-like basis [...]
The easy sell to the EU that preserves the Single Market for the City January 12, 2017 The UK is about to seriously embark on its programme towards Brexit. We have been promised that the government will exercise the country’s right under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty in March 2017, which commences a two-year period of withdrawal negotiations. Those two years will be marked by considerable political activity and, though this [...]
Supreme Court confirms it will not be handing out advance copies of the Article 50 judgment January 11, 2017 The Supreme Court has today confirmed it will not be giving anybody an early peek at the impending Article 50 decision. "In view of the potential sensitivity of the case, there will be no copies of drafts available to anybody before the day of hand-down," a Supreme Court spokesperson said. Last December, all 11 of the [...]
Ditched auditor brought back to investigate Tesco Bank hack January 11, 2017 Tesco has turned to its former auditor, which it axed after more than 30 years in the wake of a profit blackhole, to investigate a cyber attack on its bank. PwC was brought in by Tesco Bank to investigate an attack in November which forced it to repay £2.5m to customers who had been targeted by [...]
Value of frauds reaches a five-year high, with London named as a crime hotspot January 11, 2017 The total value of frauds reported increased by just under a third last year to reach a five-year peak, with London remaining a criminal hotspot, figures released today show. BDO's FraudTrack, which keeps tabs on UK reported fraud cases with a value over £50,000, found total reported fraud in 2016 rose to £2bn, up 31.5 per cent [...]