City law firm Simmons & Simmons buys legal engineering startup to turbocharge Libor replacement July 23, 2019 City law firm Simmons & Simmons today said it had acquired legal engineering firm Wavelength to help its clients on large projects such as the replacement of Libor. Wavelength describes itself as the first regulated legal engineering business in the world. Its chief executive Peter Lee said Wavelength applies data science, technology and design to [...]
Passport-maker De La Rue under investigation by fraud squad over suspected corruption July 23, 2019 Passport and banknote-maker De La Rue said today it is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) over suspected corruption. De La Rue told the stock market this afternoon that the SFO had opened an investigation into the company and its associated persons in relation to suspected corruption in South Sudan. De La Rue’s [...]
City watchdog hits Standard Life Assurance with £30m fine for annuity sales failings July 23, 2019 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today fined Standard Life Assurance (SLA) £30.7m for failings around its sales of annuities. The FCA said SLA had failed to put in place adequate controls to monitor the quality of calls between its call handlers and its customers. At the same time SLA offered staff large financial incentives to [...]
Almost a third of trainee lawyers at elite Magic Circle law firms educated at Oxbridge July 5, 2019 Almost a third of lawyers at the UK’s elite Magic Circle law firms attended Oxford or Cambridge universities, new data published today shows. The research shows 76 per cent of trainee lawyers at the UK’s leading 139 law firms are Oxbridge and Russell Group graduates. The figures were compiled by the Chambers Student Guide from [...]
Freshfields increases partner pay to £1.84m July 3, 2019 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has boosted average equity partner pay to £1.839m, it said today. The firm said average profit per equity partner (Pep) grew six per cent in the year to 30 April, putting the firm at the top of the Magic Circle partner pay tree. Revenue grew five per cent to £1.472bn and net [...]
Pimlico Plumbers boss calls Boris a ‘great champion for business’ July 2, 2019 Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins today defended Tory leadership candidate Boris Johnson as a “great champion for business”. The colourful entrepreneur told City A.M. that he was backing Johnson as the UK’s next Prime Minister, despite taking opposing sides in the Brexit debate. “He’s a fan of business, I know he made that chuck away [...]
Clifford Chance kicks off Magic Circle reporting season with subdued performance July 2, 2019 Clifford Chance became the first Magic Circle law firm to report its 2018-19 financial results today, announcing modest gains in revenue and profit. The firm said revenue for the year to 30 April grew 4.3 per cent to £1.693bn. Partnership profit rose two per cent to £637m and profit per equity partner (Pep) grew one [...]
Apple boss Tim Cook brands reports he fell out with designer Jony Ive ‘absurd’ July 2, 2019 Apple chief executive Tim Cook has hit out at reports he fell out with departing design chief Sir Jony Ive, calling the claims “absurd”. Ive, the British designer behind the iPhone, iPod and iMac, announced last week he was leaving Apple to set up an independent design company. A report in the Wall Street Journal [...]
L’Oreal in talks to buy Azzaro and Mugler from Clarins July 2, 2019 L’Oreal is in talks to buy perfume and fashion brands Azzaro and Mugler from Clarins Group, it said today. The company did not disclose the financial details of the proposed deals. Clarins said the two brands’ have combined sales of €416m (£372m), representing 26 per cent of Clarins’ annual sales of €1.6bn. Read more: L’Oreal [...]
Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra could run into tax trouble say lawyers July 1, 2019 Facebook’s new cryptocurrency Libra could face serious tax issues that could hamper its widespread takeup, according to City lawyers. Earlier this month, the social media giant confirmed plans to launch Libra which is intended to be a new global currency that can improve access to the financial system. Tax lawyers from Magic Circle law firm [...]