Ex-PwC partner denies leaking info to City banker to help Slater & Gordon’s £637m deal January 31, 2023 The former head of PwC’s restructuring business has denied leaking confidential information to a London investment banker that allegedly helped City law firm Slater & Gordon get a better price in a £637m acquisition, a London court heard today. Ex-PwC partner Ian Green is accused of disclosing commercially sensitive information about software developer Quindell’s financial [...]
RBG Holdings shares plummet after professional services firm fires chief executive January 31, 2023 Shares in RBG Holdings today plummeted by more than nine per cent after the troubled professional services group said it had fired its chief executive. The AIM-listed professional services conglomerate said in a statement that its board has “lost confidence” in chief executive Nicola Foulston as it stated her “employment contract has been terminated with [...]
Is this the end of law firm IPOs? January 30, 2023 British law firms have traditionally stayed away from public markets. Yet following a series of IPOs over the past eight years, there are now six UK law firms listed on the stock exchange. Gateley became the first UK law firm to launch an IPO in 2015 after floating on London’s alternative investment market (AIM). In [...]
Serious Fraud Office: Osofsky backs government’s plan for new ‘failure to prevent’ fraud offence January 25, 2023 The director of the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has backed plans for a new ‘failure to prevent’ fraud offence, after government ministers today confirmed the offence would make its way on the statute books. SFO chief Lisa Osofsky said government plans to introduce a failure to prevent offence for fraud has the “potential to [...]
Former Janus Henderson analyst charged in £1.5m insider trading case January 25, 2023 The UK’s financial watchdog has launched criminal proceedings against five individuals over claims they used insider information from an analyst at a top asset manager to illegally generate profits of £1.5m. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) claims Redinel Korfuzi, a former analyst at asset manager Janus Henderson, and his associates allegedly used confidential information from [...]
Private finance firms have fewer women leaders than listed rivals, new research shows January 23, 2023 Financial services companies that are structured as privately-owned partnerships have significantly fewer women in leadership positions than their publicly-listed rivals, new research shows. Fewer than one-sixth (15.1 per cent) of partners in privately-owned finance firms are women, according to research from employment law firm Fox & Partners. By comparison, women account for 43 per [...]
UK’s data watchdog to shift away from big fines to focus on prevention January 18, 2023 The UK’s data watchdog has vowed to shift away from simply hitting companies with big fines for breaching data privacy rules and instead will look to adopt a more preventative approach. John Edwards, head of the Information Commissioner’s Office, said today that he will focus on preventing data breaches from happening in the first place [...]
Gateley chief says truce in legal sector pay war will boost firm’s expansion plans January 18, 2023 An easing of the pay war between law firms has already begun to benefit Gateley’s balance sheet as the listed law firm’s chief executive outlined his expansion plans to City A.M. Gateley boss Rod Waldie said the “whole sector is benefiting” from the calming of the legal sector pay war that has seen lawyers’ salaries [...]
London firm Shipleys investigated over audit of Russian fintech Zaim Credit Systems January 18, 2023 The UK’s accounting regulator has launched an investigation into London accounting firm Shipleys over its audit work for the UK-listed holding company of Russian fintech firm Zaim Express. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said today that it has decided to open an investigation into the firm’s audit of Zaim Credit Systems’ 2021 accounts. The FRC’s [...]
UK law firms plunged into bankruptcy by soaring insurance premiums January 17, 2023 Dozens of UK law firms have collapsed into bankruptcy over the last year due to being unable to obtain the insurance policies they need to continue operating, new research shows. The rising cost of taking out professional indemnity insurance (PII) policies – that cover any losses arising from negligent services – caused nine UK [...]