FTSE 100 live: London markets to rise on back of strong Microsoft, Alphabet earnings; All eyes on US PCE inflation
M&C Saatchi set to appoint PwC as its auditor following accounting scandal October 28, 2019 Advertising agency M&C Saatchi is set to appoint Big Four accountancy firm PwC as its new auditor following an accounting scandal that wiped out more than half of its share price. In August the advertising agency network said it had set aside £6.4m after it had spotted an error in its accounts. Its previous auditor [...]
EY accused of failing to report drug gang’s gold bar money laundering October 28, 2019 Big Four accountancy firm EY failed to report evidence of smuggling by a criminal gang that was using black market gold to launder dirty money, according to a new investigation. The crime gang allegedly collected money from drug dealers across the UK and Europe and then laundered the money by buying and selling black market [...]
Nearly half of in-house lawyers asked to advise on unethical issues October 28, 2019 A survey of in-house lawyers published today has found that 45 per cent have been asked to advise on something ethically debatable. The study shines a light on the tightrope in-house lawyers have to walk between acting commercially and upholding professional ethics. Read more: Firms must stop using NDAs to cover up harassment, say MPs [...]
HMRC collects nearly £10bn via tax probes October 28, 2019 Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) collected £9.8bn in extra revenue through tax investigations into the UK’s largest businesses last year, up 12 per cent from £8.7bn in 2017-18. Analysis published today by law firm Pinsent Masons showed that the biggest element of this was £6bn from tax investigations into valued added tax (VAT) and [...]
Can Freshfields’ young guns retain the Magic Circle firm’s private equity crown? October 27, 2019 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s youthful private equity team are on the frontline of the struggle between UK and US law firms to control the City legal market. The firm has led the European private equity deal rankings for the last three years, seeing off the challenge of both Magic Circle and US rivals. However, the shock [...]
KPMG could close Mayfair private members’ club in cost-cutting drive October 27, 2019 Big Four audit firm KPMG is reportedly planning on shutting down its five-storey Mayfair private members’ club as part of a cost-cutting drive. KPMG opened the club in a Mayfair townhouse at 20 Grosvenor Street in 2015. Number Twenty offers guests a private restaurant, a rooftop terrace and client meeting rooms. Read more: KPMG launches [...]
Revolving door spins at London litigation funder Augusta Ventures October 27, 2019 Litigation funder Augusta Ventures has launched a new team to back consumer class actions, but has also shed more than 10 per cent of its London workforce in a recent round of cuts. The funder said that despite cutting eight staff in London, it has grown overall, adding 11 new employees in recent months. Its [...]
Quickquid owner to take £58m hit on exiting the UK October 25, 2019 The owner of the UK’s largest payday loan company Quickquid said it will take a £58m hit on closing down the firm and pulling out of the UK market. US-based Enova said in its results last night that it was exiting the UK “due to regulatory uncertainty”. The company said it was recording an after [...]
Four things we learned from Barclays results October 25, 2019 Barclays delivered a mixed set of results for the third quarter today, with strong performance in its controversial investment bank outweighed by a massive £1.4bn PPI claims hit. These are the top four takeaways from Barclays results today. Barclays was not expecting PPI ‘avalanche’ Barclays otherwise strong third quarter results were torpedoed by a whopping [...]
More details emerge in Essex lorry death case October 24, 2019 New details have emerged about the movements of a lorry that was found in Essex yesterday containing the bodies of 39 people. The Belgian Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office today said it had opened a case into the deaths of the 39 people who were found yesterday at Grays in Essex. According to the prosecutor, the [...]