PwC staff to head into the office two to three days a week post-Covid March 31, 2021 PwC will allow flexible working to continue when coronavirus restrictions ease, and has said staff can finish at lunchtime on Friday during July and August. The Big Four firm said it expects staff will spend an average of two to three days per week co-located with colleagues, either in the office or at client sites. [...]
EY drops $11m case against whistleblower who alleged gold smuggling cover-up March 29, 2021 EY UK has dropped its appeal against a High Court case that saw a former partner awarded $10.8m in compensation. The Big Four firm was due to begin an appeal this year against a High Court ruling in favour of Amjad Rihan, who said he was forced to flee Dubai after alleging EY helped cover [...]
Deloitte paid to draft parliamentary answers and media lines on test and trace March 25, 2021 The government has been using Deloitte to help ministers draft parliamentary questions and media lines to defend the ‘test and trace’ system. Since the pandemic began, Deloitte has won public sector contracts worth £323m, according to figures from the Good Law Project. Buried in those contracts are details of help with PR and communications, with [...]
Deloitte offers up to £2,000 ‘thank you’ bonus to firm’s non-partners March 24, 2021 After taking austerity measures last year to navigate the pandemic, Big Four firm Deloitte plans to hand out ‘thank you’ bonuses to all firm employees. ‘Thank you’ payments of between £500 and £2,000 will be paid to all UK staff below partner level at the end of April, with the amount paid determined by the [...]
Sarbanes-Oxley-style audit reform ‘to cost business more than £430m a year’ March 18, 2021 Businesses face paying hundreds of millions of pounds more every year under plans to reform the audit sector and crack down on shoddy practices at the UK’s largest firms. More than £430m could be added to businesses costs as a result of the proposals, according to analyses carried out by the Financial Times. This morning [...]
UK audit shakeup: Big Four face FTSE client caps, new watchdog and a clampdown on directors March 18, 2021 Big Four dominance in the UK audit market may be diluted under new plans announced today that would see stricter regulation of the sector and executives at major firms. The government hopes the proposals, published in a consultation today by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), will lead to greater transparency in [...]
‘Priority’ BEIS audit reform report now over a month late March 9, 2021 The keenly awaited BEIS report on audit reform is now more than a month late to be published, despite business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng insisting audit reform was a “priority” for his department. City A.M. understands that the report, which is thought to be extensive, was due out on 8 February, but a month later is [...]
Exclusive: Deloitte diversity chief dumped from role after bullying accusations March 5, 2021 Exclusive: Deloitte diversity chief dumped from role after bullying accusations
PwC and EY: Our restructuring arms are not for sale March 4, 2021 Big Four firms PwC and EY have insisted they have no plans to follow in the footsteps of rivals KPMG and Deloitte and sell the restructuring units of their businesses. Selling restructuring units is in vogue at Big Four firms. This morning KPMG announced it had signed an unconditional agreement with private equity firm HIG [...]
KPMG unit sale creates new restructuring behemoth Interpath Advisory March 4, 2021 KPMG has signed an unconditional agreement to sell its restructuring practice to Interpath Advisory, a newly-formed company backed by private equity firm HIG Europe. The sale will see 22 partners and around 528 staff currently employed in KPMG’s restructuring practice transfer to Interpath Advisory, making it the largest independent restructuring and turnaround business in the [...]