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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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 [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Babcock boss exits; Retail sales fall in golden quarter

January 23, 2026

Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Today is the final day of the World Economic Forum in Davos and what a ride it has been for capital markets. The FTSE 100 started Monday’s trading session at a cool 10,235.31 before shedding some points as Trump turned up pressure on his tariff [...]
Wes Streeting: Progress on NHS delays as private insurance soars

January 22, 2026

Employer-provided health insurance coverage has reached a 30-year high, with 4.8m people now covered, as businesses ramped up employment benefits amid the NHS backlog. UK health insurers paid out a record £4bn in 2024, averaging £11m every day, according to new figures by the ABI. Despite NHS data showing that the waiting list fell by [...]
Lloyd’s of London’s Beazley again rejects Zurich’s £7.7bn takeover bid

January 22, 2026

Beazley, the prominent Lloyd’s of London underwriter, has unanimously rejected a 1,280p per share cash proposal from Zurich Insurance Group, which it says “materially undervalues” the firm’s future prospects. The board noted that this latest offer is actually lower than a 1,315p proposal Zurich made in June last year, which valued the firm at approximately [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Defence and miners miss Trump ‘TACO’ tariff rally

January 22, 2026

Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Yesterday Donald descended on Davos. In a wide-ranging address to the economic elite, President Trump scolded Europe, touted his own successes and doubled down on the “need” to acquire Greenland. Beyond his scathing remarks about Nato peers, the central takeaway from Trump’s over-hour long speech [...]
Legal accounts controversy: Who should fund the broken justice system?

January 22, 2026

First, the government tried to go after the LLPs, but that failed. Now its eyes are on law firms’ client accounts under the narrative that it will be used to help the crumbling justice system, but lawyers are seeing it as just another tax raid. Law firms earn substantial income from interest on client accounts, [...]
Scrapping jury trials will only have ‘modest’ impact on backlog

January 22, 2026

David Lammy’s controversial plan to restrict jury trials will unlock only “relatively modest reductions in demand given the scale of institutional upheaval”, according to a new report by the Institute for Government (IFG). The government’s plans, which leaked in November, revealed a move to scrap some jury trials to tackle the nearly 80,000 criminal case [...]
High Court to hear Reform’s challenge on cancelled council elections

January 21, 2026

Reform UK’s legal challenge against the UK government over plans to delay local elections is set to go to a two-day trial next month. The case focuses on the government’s plan to allow 63 councils to postpone their local elections that were scheduled for May 2026. So far, more than a third of local authorities [...]
Ryanair boss could land near-£2bn payout after Elon Musk feud

January 21, 2026

The boss of Ryanair could land a cash payout of as much as £1.7bn if the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, acts on his threats to buy the airline. Michael O’Leary, who has been chief executive of the County Dublin-based business for more than 30 years, has accumulated the sixth-largest stake in the company, with [...]
David Lammy’s plan to seize law firm interest sparks outrage

January 20, 2026

Secretary of State for Justice David Lammy was accused of a “brazen attempt” to “confiscate law firms’ cash” after the government revealed plans to take the interest law firms earn on money sitting in their client accounts. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Justice opened a consultation on a proposal to introduce an Interest on [...]

Cambridge grads launch trading exchange to take on established industry

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The 11 best pies in London to eat during British Pie Week

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

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