Accountancy firms ask for exemptions from ban on providing services to Russia May 24, 2022 Accountancy firms have asked the UK government to offer exemptions to professional services firms from rules blocking them from working with Russian clients. The calls come after the government this month set out plans to block British accountants, business consultants, and PR managers from providing their services to Russians, in response to the country’s invasion [...]
London office completions lag due to site delays as demand for projects surges May 23, 2022 Supply chain disruption and worker shortages mean the completion of office construction projects in London has lagged. New start activity dropped by a third to 2.3m sq ft over the six months to March. Completed construction also plunged by half to 1.7m sq ft, well below a long-term average of 2.5m sq ft, as projects [...]
UK’s audit sector trade bodies would not object to giving Big Four fines to the government May 19, 2022 Two of the UK’s biggest audit industry trade bodies have said they would welcome any plans to see money raised through fines against auditors given over to the UK government, in order to fund Britain’s regulatory bodies. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) both [...]
Deloitte, KPMG, PwC and EY push further into India as all Big Four firms go on aggressive hiring spree May 19, 2022 The big four professional services firms—Deloitte, KPMG International Coop (KPMG), PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd (PwC) and Ernst & Young Global Ltd (EY)—seem to be focusing on India for recruitment since the start of 2022. Among the four, EY had the highest job postings for India during the first qaurter, followed by Deloitte, PwC, and KPMG, respectively, [...]
UK’s accountancy sector turnovers soar to record highs May 12, 2022 The UK’s accountancy firms generated more cash in March than in any other month on record, new Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures show. Turnover in Britain’s accountancy sector jumped 14 per cent from February to March to record highs of £4.13bn. The multi-billion sum comes as a new high for the UK’s accountancy industry, [...]
UK government drops audit reform from Queen’s Speech agenda April 30, 2022 The UK government is expected to announce further delays to its shakeup of the audit sector, after dropping a draft bill on audit reform from the Queen’s Speech. A draft bill to introduce a raft of measures aimed at reforming the UK’s audit industry, including by replacing the UK’s audit watchdog with a new more [...]
Deloitte exits more London offices after setting out permanent work-from-home policy April 21, 2022 Big Four accountancy firm Deloitte has cut the size of its London offices in another sign the firm is doubling down on remote working. The office space cull comes after Deloitte told staff they are free to work-from-home as often as they want, in June of last year. The auditor is now moving out [...]
UK’s audit watchdog set to reclaim control over licensing of major accountancy firms April 12, 2022 The UK’s audit watchdog is preparing to strengthen its powers to sanction Britain’s major accountancy firms. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is readying itself to take back control over the registration of the UK’s auditing firms, sources told the Financial Times. In doing so, the FRC would be given new powers to strip licenses from [...]
Deloitte paid former diversity chief £8m after she was cleared of bullying allegations April 3, 2022 Accountancy giant Deloitte has paid its former head of “diversity of inclusion” as much as £8m, after she stepped down from her role last year following allegations of bullying. City sources told The Telegraph that Deloitte’s former deputy chief executive, Dimple Agarwal, received severance pay of between £7m and £8m, after an internal investigation cleared [...]
Big Four cut ties to China’s debt-ridden property giants as developers delay results March 30, 2022 The Big Four auditors have begun cutting their links to China’s heavily indebted property developers, amid mounting concerns over the sector’s debt crisis. Accountancy giants Deloitte and PwC have both pulled out of auditing at a slew of Chinese property developers over the past three months. The exits come as PwC is reportedly set to [...]