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 edits the Beyond The Billable newsletter and column. She was previously a litigation reporter at The Lawyer. Contact her via email at maria.ward-brennan@cityam.com or on X @MariaW_B.

All 1684 Articles

Treasury accused of blocking China audit after espionage trial fiasco

October 10, 2025

The Treasury lobbied Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, to block reports on the threat posed by Beijing in the midst of the probe against the two men accused of spying for China. According to The Telegraph, in June, Powell decided the UK government would not publish details about espionage from the Foreign Office’s [...]
Millions of Brits turn to ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ for healthcare treatments

October 9, 2025

Millions of Brits are turning to the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ for help to pay for private healthcare treatment, as NHS waiting lists continue to remain high. According to a new survey by Howden Life and Health, over the past five years, nearly one-third of UK adults, or approximately 14m people, have paid for [...]
Who’s really running a court case? The legal ruling that’s raising eyebrows

October 9, 2025

Each year, courts hand down hundreds of thousands of judgments. While many are significant only to the parties involved, occasionally a decision sends ripples much further afield. A prime example happened last October, when the Court of Appeal issued a straightforward ruling that upended the lending sector and created significant headaches for the Financial Conduct [...]
Former CPS top lawyer: China spy case ‘does not add up’

October 8, 2025

Public prosecutors have said a Chinese spy case involving Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry was dropped due the lack of evidence provided by the Labour government on labelling the country a threat. The Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) tried to take evidence from the government “over many months” [...]
FCA orders lenders to pay £11bn in motor finance compensation

October 7, 2025

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it expects lenders to make 14.2 million payouts to individuals affected by unfair motor finance agreements, totalling around £11bn in compensation. The FCA estimates people would receive around £700 per agreement, on average. It has also been calculated that around 85 per cent of eligible consumers would [...]
Labour’s tobacco bill risks empowering black market, warns shadow minister

October 7, 2025

The Labour government’s proposed Tobacco and Vapes Bill could hand a significant boost to criminal gangs and fuel the growing black market in illicit goods across the UK, the shadow policing minister has warned. Matt Vickers MP has told City AM that the legislation, aimed at curbing smoking and youth vaping, fails to address the [...]
Jenrick pledges to sack judges accused of pro-migration activism

October 7, 2025

Robert Jenrick announced a sweeping crackdown on what he describes as “pro-migration bias” in the judiciary, vowing to remove so-called “activist” judges. Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, claims to have identified more than 30 judges, both full-time and part-time, who previously volunteered for or provided free legal services to open-border organisations. He told the crowd [...]
Governments owe $80bn in investor-state Arbitration losses

October 7, 2025

Investor-state disputes have more than doubled over the last decade, with decisions against governments totalling over $250m (£186m), and governments’ debts accumulating over $80bn (£60bn). Investor-state disputes enable overseas investors to recoup some of their investment if a government breaches its investment treaty obligations. Arbitration, an out-of-court method, is the preferred system for resolving these [...]
Regulator fines KPMG for N Brown Group audit errors

October 7, 2025

Big Four firm KPMG and a former partner have received heavy fines and formal reprimands from the accountancy regulator for serious failures in their audit of N Brown Group plc’s 2022 accounts. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) found that KPMG and Anthony Sykes failed to meet international auditing standards, with the firm admitting to serious [...]
European President set to face yet another no-confidence vote

October 6, 2025

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is back in Strasbourg to defend herself against a no-confidence motion, just months after her last one. On Monday evening, two motions of no confidence against the President will be debated at the European Parliament, as von der Leyen is set to defend herself against [...]

Revolut US licence win ‘strengthens pre-IPO story’

RFU left waiting on Twickenham gig planning meeting after NIMBY opposition

Open House Festival: The best guided walks in the Square Mile

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

All 1684 Articles

Subscribe