By: Maria Ward-Brennan

Professional Services Editor Maria Ward-Brennan is the Professional Services Editor at City AM, focused on law, Big Four, and other management and accounting consulting firms. She was previously a litigation reporter at The Lawyer. Contact her via email at maria.ward-brennan@cityam.com or X (Twitter) @MariaW_B.

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Bill Thomas’ successor: KPMG top job up for grabs amidst sector transformation

January 27, 2026

The Big Four giant KPMG’s election for the next global chair and CEO is currently underway, as big names across the firm vie to succeed Bill Thomas. Thomas has held the leadership position since October 2017, but his term is expected to conclude on 30 September. KPMG International is now launching a process to elect [...]
UK’s wealthiest financier Michael Platt’s hedge fund in high-stakes tax fight

January 27, 2026

Hedge funder BlueCrest Capital Management, founded by the UK’s wealthiest financier, Michael Platt, will appeal at the highest court this week over a tax battle with HMRC. The case centres on the salaried members’ rules, which determine if limited liability partnerships (LLP) members are genuinely self-employed or ‘disguised employees’ for tax purposes. HMRC issued determinations [...]
FTSE 100 Live: HSBC carries blue-chips; Starmer eyes China trade

January 27, 2026

Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Gold’s magnificent rally was continuing on Tuesday morning after breaking through the $5,100 mark for the first time. The flurry to safe haven assets notched up after Trump threatened Canada with 100 per cent tariffs if the country “made a deal with China”. Last week [...]
Private medical insurance claims rise as City workers seek quicker care

January 26, 2026

Diagnostic tests top private medical insurance claims as City workers increasingly seek coverage for everyday health needs. According to data from Howden, diagnostic tests and scans are number one across all categories, except for those over 65. This comes as the NHS waiting list has started to fall in recent months, yet 7.31m people across [...]
Traditional legal model shaken by investor interest and IPO ambitions

January 26, 2026

External investment is increasing in mid-size legal firms, according to a new report, which revealed that nearly 70 per cent of firms have been approached by private equity investors or PE-backed entities in the last year. New data from MHA, in conjunction with the Law Society, shared with City AM, shows that the majority of [...]
Lloyds subsidiary fined £160,000 for Putin ally sanctions breach

January 26, 2026

A subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group has been fined for sanctions breaches after it opened a bank account for an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Bank of Scotland, a subsidiary of Lloyds since 2009, was fined £160,000 by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) on Monday for breaching Russian sanctions. Although not named [...]
Donald Trump ushers in 2026 with series of white-collar pardons

January 26, 2026

US President Donald Trump has pardoned or reduced the sentences of 10 people convicted of fraud and other white-collar crimes over the past 10 days. Out of the 21 clemency grants Trump has issued since 15 January, 10 were for people convicted of fraud and white-collar crimes, according to the Financial Times. This follows his [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Gold surges past $5,000, S4 Capital shares rocket

January 26, 2026

Good morning from the City AM liveblog team. While brokers and stock exchange managers are hoping for an IPO comeback in 2026 after a four-year drought, some investors are less keen to see a flood of fresh companies hitting the market. Speaking at an Innovate Finance panel discussion chaired by City AM, James Codling, managing [...]
Gucci to Zara: Brands ramp up fight against domain ‘squatting’

January 23, 2026

Global legal disputes over ‘squatted’ web addresses rose to 6,282 cases last year as big companies, especially fashion brands, are fighting back against counterfeit goods. According to data by Mathys & Squire shared with City AM, disputes over web addresses are up 49 per cent in five years (from 4,204) and 128 per cent in [...]
IoD boss joins criticism of Peter Kyle’s U-turn on Audit reform

January 23, 2026

The bosses of the Institute of Directors (IoD) and the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors are among some City leaders hitting back against the government’s U-turn on the Audit Bill. In a scathing open letter to the Business Secretary, Peter Kyle, the leaders called the move “a significant step backwards, particularly after the commitment made [...]

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By: Maria Ward-Brennan

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