Mazars discriminated against XTX Markets’ Russian owner, lawsuit says August 8, 2022 London trading company XTX Markets is suing accountancy firm Mazars over claims it discriminated against its founder, Alexander Gerko, by refusing to work with the firm due to Gerko’s Russian citizenship. The algorithmic trading firm filed its case against Mazars over the accounting firm’s refusal to provide payroll services to its subsidiary, XTX Markets Technologies, [...]
WH Smith de-risks pensions scheme via Standard Life insurance policy August 8, 2022 WH Smith on Monday said it had taken out a bulk annuity insurance policy with Standard Life, through which the Phoenix Group subsidiary will cover the costs of the retailer’s £1bn pension scheme. The high-street bookseller’s insurance policy will see Standard Life pay the pensions of the almost 13,000 members of WH Smith’s defined [...]
PwC fined over BT audit failings following discovery of £512m fraud August 8, 2022 The UK’s accounting watchdog today fined PwC £2.5m over claims it failed to properly scrutinize BT accounts following the discovery of a half-a-billion-pound fraud within the telecommunications firm. The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said PwC and former partner Richard Hughes failed to treat BT’s management with sufficient professional scepticism following the discovery of a [...]
Law firm mergers drop to decade lows as legal sector boom slows M&A activity August 8, 2022 The past two years’ boom in demand for legal services has seen M&A activity in the UK’s legal sector drop to decade lows, research from accountancy firm Hazelwoods shows. The number of mergers between UK law firms has fallen to its lowest levels in a decade, in plummeting from highs of 278 in 2011 to [...]
Big Four auditors up advisory fee incomes as challengers capture larger share of audit work August 5, 2022 The UK’s challenger auditing firms are increasingly capturing a larger share of Britain’s audit market, as the Big Four increasingly generate their revenues through non audit work, new data from the UK’s accounting watchdog shows. The research shows smaller auditors upped their audit fee incomes at almost twice the rate of the Big Four, as [...]
Informa sells centuries old Lloyd’s List to private equity firm Montagu August 5, 2022 London private equity firm Montagu has struck a deal with publishing giant Informa to buy up shipping newsletter Lloyd’s List, one of the world’s oldest continuously running news journals. Montagu Private Equity, which manages €10bn (£8.4bn) worth of assets, has agreed to buy the centuries-old maritime news service from Informa, in a deal worth £385m. [...]
Bain & Co weighs up legal action against UK government over contract ban August 5, 2022 Bain & Co is considering taking legal action against the UK government after Britain banned the US consultancy from competing for contracts over its role in alleged “state capture and corruption by the South African government”. The US consultancy is considering “all options” including launching a judicial review, in a bid to overturn the UK [...]
Menzies cancels share listing as Agility takeover goes ahead August 5, 2022 Edinburgh headquartered aviation firm John Menzies has cancelled plans to list more of its shares on the London Stock Exchange. The cancellation comes after the aviation struck a deal with Bidco, a subsidiary of Kuwaiti logistics company Agility, through which it agreed to buy the newly issued shares. The agreement comes after Menzies’ board in [...]
Tough markets offset growth in Hargreaves Lansdown’s business August 5, 2022 Hargreaves Lansdown today said “difficult” market conditions in the first half of 2022 have halted its growth trajectory in causing the value of the assets administers to drop 9 per cent to £123.8bn. The Bristol headquartered company said major downturns in the FTSE, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 offset £5.5bn worth of new business in [...]
Norton Rose Fulbright hikes NQ salaries after upping pay for rank-and-file staff August 4, 2022 City law firm Norton Rose Fulbright today said it would hand out up to 10 per cent pay rises to its rank-and-file staff after the firm upped pay for its newly-qualified lawyers to heights of £105,000 a year. The law firm today said it would give out pay rises of at least 5 per cent [...]
