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.

All 1614 Articles

Legal firm faces “material uncertainty” after publishing overdue accounts

January 7, 2026

After months of delay, the law firm behind the largest action to hit the London High Court published its 2023 financial accounts, which revealed an annual loss of £95m. Pogust Goodhead’s 2023 account, published on Companies House on Monday, four months past the deadline, showed turnover decreased sharply to £3,607,387, down from £53,077,800 in 2022. [...]
Ex-Jefferies banker pleads not guilty in FCA insider dealing case

January 7, 2026

A former banker at investment bank Jefferies pleaded not guilty to one count of insider dealing ahead of a trial listed for January 2028. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed in November that it started criminal proceedings against Bobosher Sharipov, 44, and Bekzod Avazov, 43, for alleged insider dealing. Sharipov worked at investment bank Jefferies [...]
Scathing report blames MoJ for wasting public funds and failing justice system

January 7, 2026

A new scathing Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) revealed that a cyberattack last year at the Legal Aid Agency gave hackers access to sensitive providers’ and data for four months. There was a cyberattack on the Legal Aid Agency last year that took the services offline for some time [...]
Vessel insurance in focus after US strikes on Venezuela

January 6, 2026

The waters surrounding Venezuela see significant maritime traffic. However, following US air strikes on the country on Friday, an insurance body has advised shipowners to consult with underwriters before sailing. Venezuela is home to the largest proven oil reserves on earth, resulting in busy trade via its waters. Puerto Cabello is the country’s busiest port, [...]
Businesses are suffering financial losses from faulty AI advice

January 6, 2026

Half of UK accountants and bookkeepers have said businesses have suffered financial losses due to AI slop that has caused ‘avoidable mistakes’ in the books. New research by Dext found that nearly a third (31 per cent) of accountants and bookkeepers encounter client mistakes on a weekly basis, caused by wrong or misleading AI-generated financial [...]
EY extends global HQ stay on Thames

January 6, 2026

Big Four giant EY has renewed the lease on its global headquarters until 2040. The firm’s UK and global HQ is at 1 More London Place, whose lease was set to expire in 2028 before the firm greenlit a contract renewal. The ten-storey building on the south bank of the River Thames, with 35,000 sq [...]
Interpath and beyond: The surge of private equity investment in professional services

January 5, 2026

It was revealed this morning that Big Four giant KPMG’s former restructuring division, Interpath Advisory, was in exclusive negotiations with Bridgepoint to acquire a majority stake in its business, the latest in a string of private equity deals in the professional services sector. KPMG sold the arm to private equity group HIG Capital in 2021 for £400m. [...]
Football-style firings in SMEs: A risky game for business owners

January 5, 2026

HR professionals are seeing SMEs start to copy football’s “sack the boss” culture when things go south for the company, but warn that this strategy could turn into an “expensive legal headache”. Managers of major football teams, especially those in the Premier League, can operate like a revolving door when the team is in a [...]
Howden expands US footprint with acquisition of Atlantic Global Risk

January 5, 2026

Insurance giant Howden has acquired US independent transaction-liability insurance broker Atlantic Global Risk as part of its US expansion. New York-headquartered Atlantic Group has over 110 people across four key business areas: representations and warranties insurance, tax liability insurance, contingent risk insurance, and credit risk insurance. Howden’s focus in the USA is a strategic and [...]
Trump’s push for ‘crypto capital’ sparks PwC shift towards digital assets

January 5, 2026

The US arm of the Big Four giant PwC has changed its stance on cryptocurrency work following President Donald Trump’s fondness for digital assets. Trump has pledged to make the US the “crypto capital of the world” after passing the ‘Genius Act’, which governs digital assets such as stablecoins, into law last year. As a [...]

‘Very concerned’: City watchdog scolds motor finance lenders over £9bn redress scheme

Dallas, Boston, New York New Jersey: Inside England’s Fifa World Cup stadiums

Glengarry Glen Ross at the Old Vic fails to close

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

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