By: Maria Ward-Brennan

Senior Reporter Maria Ward-Brennan is a senior reporter focused on law and professional services. Contact her via email on maria.ward-brennan@cityam.com or X (Twitter) @MariaW_B

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AI drives surge in fraud as criminals turn to more sophisticated scams

October 24, 2025

Fraud losses hit £629m in H1 2025, driven by new investment scams and record card fraud, as AI enables criminals to commit more sophisticated scams. For the first six months of 2025, there were over 2m confirmed fraud cases, a 17 per cent increase, according to trade body UK Finance, as criminals stole £629.3m, a [...]
Treasury’s LLP tax proposal could add £46,000 burden per partner

October 23, 2025

Law firms’ partners could face an additional £1.4bn in tax each year if the Treasury goes ahead with imposing a 15 per cent rate of national insurance contributions on LLPs. According to data provided by HMRC to UHY Hacker Young, partners of law firms made a total of £9.2bn in profits in the latest year. [...]
RSM UK approves merger with US arm, backing partnership over private equity

October 23, 2025

Accountancy firm RSM UK has greenlit a merger with its US sister, RSM US, to create a $5bn (£3.75bn) new partnership structure, in the first major transatlantic combination in the accountancy sector. It was reported last October that both firms were in talks, with a focus on the mid-market. On Thursday, after a “near-unanimous vote” [...]
Legal sector feeling subdued as regulator loses its AML powers

October 23, 2025

The Treasury’s decision to transfer oversight of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervision to the FCA has sparked concerns within the professional services sector. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) served as a Professional Body Supervisor (PBS) for AMLCT for law firms across England and Wales, while for the accountancy sector, the HMRC plays the supervision [...]
Lawyers sound alarm over Rachel Reeves’ proposed tax target on LLPs

October 22, 2025

The Chancellor is reportedly looking to target limited liability partnerships (LLPs) for a tax raid as she tries to fill the fiscal black hole, but critics warn that this move will have consequences for the professional services sector. The LLP model, used by professional services such as law firms, accountancy, and some doctors (GPs), came into force [...]
Fully remote with no associates: Meet the ‘elite’ law firm of the future

October 22, 2025

US lawyers Michael Pierson and Joel Ferdinand joined forces “with the vision to build the elite law firm of the future”, going in the opposite direction of the traditional market with a tech-focused, full-service approach. Oh, and no offices. And no associates. Founded in January 2024, New York-based Pierson Ferdinand became the largest law firm [...]
FCA to take control of anti-money laundering supervision of professional service firms in major reform

October 21, 2025

The government’s reform of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervision will significantly change and diminish the roles of the legal regulator and HMRC. Today, the Treasury revealed the outcome of its consultation on reforming anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervision, primarily for professional services, by creating a Single Professional Services Supervisor (SPSS), with the Financial [...]
Rolex is London’s most stolen luxury watch, but few recovered by Met Police

October 21, 2025

Over 5,000 luxury watches have been stolen in London over the last three years, but barely one in 88 of these watches has been recovered by the Metropolitan Police. According to a Freedom of Information request seen by City AM, there have been 5,180 high-value watches, worth £3,000 or more, stolen between January 2022 and [...]
Waymo’s driverless taxi UK rollout puts legal system to the test

October 21, 2025

The UK is set to become the first European country to welcome Waymo’s driverless taxis but lawyers caution that current laws are fundamentally incompatible with the technology. Last week, Waymo announced its UK launch will start with a small fleet of human-supervised Jaguar I-PACE electric vehicles “in the coming weeks,” before moving to fully autonomous [...]
Execs see pound signs in AI tech, not just efficiency

October 20, 2025

C-suite business executives are even more enthusiastic about AI than the lawyers and accountants at the professional services firms advising them. According to research by Thomson Reuters, 90 per cent of corporate C-suite leaders say AI will have ‘high’ or ‘transformational’ impact in the next five years, compared to just 80 per cent of lawyers [...]

Wayve bags AMD, Arm and Qualcomm cash as AV push accelerates

Big Bash future in limbo as Cricket Australia’s plan to copy England stalls

Jeremy King: My honest thoughts on The Ivy £1bn sale

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

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