Professional services firms to be called on to help make sense of Brexit December 11, 2020 Professional services firms will play an important role in deciphering a Brexit deal – should the UK get one – or what the rules will be in the event of a no-deal scenario. Time is running out for the UK and the EU to agree a post-Brexit trade deal. On the last day of the [...]
Clifford Chance bids farewell to gendered language December 11, 2020 You may have missed it between Brexit drama and more Covid-19 news, but this week Clifford Chance announced it had ditched traditional gendered language like “Dears Sir” in its communications. The move aligns it with a growing trend in the legal sector to make language less gendered. The magic circle law firm is making efforts [...]
German audit watchdog head faces investigation over Wirecard share trading December 11, 2020 Head of German audit watchdog Apas Ralf Bose is facing an investigation after admitting buying and selling shares in Wirecard while the regulator was investigating the troubled payments firm. Bose, who has headed up German audit watchdog Apas since 2016 and is a former senior partner at KPMG, told a German parliamentary inquiry into [...]
Stunning Airbnb market debut drives valuation past $100bn in biggest IPO open of 2020 December 10, 2020 Shares of Airbnb soared in its stock market debut today, valuing the firm at $101.6bn and marking the biggest US floatation of 2020. Shares open at $146 on the Nasdaq, far above the initial public offering (IPO) price of $68 apiece. The stock then hit a high of $165, rising 142.6 per cent after the [...]
Sky’s Kay Burley to be off-air for six months following Covid rule breach December 10, 2020 Sky News presenter Kay Burley has agreed to be off-air for the next six months after breaking coronavirus restrictions rules. Last weekend Burley celebrated her 60th birthday with a group of 10 friends the Century Club, a private members’ club on London’s Shaftesbury Avenue. The party sat across two tables, with six at one and [...]
Lengthy audits cut into BDO profits as firm defends use of furlough scheme December 10, 2020 Audits carried out during the coronavirus pandemic have taken between 5 and 10 per cent longer than they would typically, creating extra expense for clients and smaller profits for BDO. Profits at the audit and consultancy firm suffered somewhat in the 2019/20 financial year, with the firm making a profit of £137m, down from a [...]
Lookers switches auditor from Deloitte to BDO after £19m vanishes from its books December 10, 2020 BDO will be appointed the next auditor of vehicle retailer Lookers after a difficult final year with Deloitte that saw £19m vanish from its books. Lookers had been audited by Deloitte for the previous 14 years. The Big Four firm first began auditing the business on 31 December 2006. Lookers’ ran into trouble with Deloitte [...]
DWF CEO: ‘We’ve equalled our Beirut blast work from Covid claims already’ December 10, 2020 There will plenty of legal work arising from coronavirus-related negligence claims, and listed law firm DWF has already started to see the work pile in. Negligence claims are likely to rise from individuals who lost loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic, and according to DWF CEO Sir Nigel Knowles, the listed law firm has already [...]
Facebook facing multiple lawsuits that could splinter the tech firm and render acquisitions illegal December 9, 2020 The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and nearly every US state have sued Facebook today, saying that it broke antitrust law and should potentially be broken up. In its complaint, the coalition of 46 states, Washington, D.C. and Guam also asked for Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp to be judged to be illegal. The [...]
Covid-19 vaccine data ‘unlawfully accessed’ in cyberattack on EU regulator December 9, 2020 Regulation documents related to the Covid-19 vaccine it is developing with Pfizer were “unlawfully accessed” after a cyberattack on Europe’s medicines regulator, biotech firm BioNTech has said. The European Medicines Agency – which is responsible for assessing and approving medicines, medical devices and vaccines for the European Union – said earlier today it had been [...]
