Ex-FCA chief Woolard nabs leadership role at EY February 11, 2021 Chris Woolard, the former interim chief executive at city regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has nabbed a leadership role at EY. Woolard will join the Big Four firm in April to lead its EMEIA financial services regulatory capabilities, and chair the EY Global Financial Services Regulatory Network. He will replace John Liver, who currently [...]
UK directors to face fines in major overhaul of audit rules February 5, 2021 UK directors will reportedly face fines for accounting failures at their companies as part of a major overhaul of the audit sector. Long-awaited reforms, set to be published as early as next week, will place a tough new burden on bosses in an effort to improve audit standards. Directors, rather than boards, will be held [...]
UK to split from EU rules and unveil post-Brexit state aid regime February 3, 2021 Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will today outline the UK’s post-Brexit rules on government subsidies in a major break with the EU. A statement from the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) department said the new set of rules, which supersede the EU’s state aid regime, will mean “local authorities, public bodies and the devolved administrations [...]
Swiss stocks given all clear to resume trading in London February 3, 2021 Shares in Swiss companies will once again be traded on UK exchanges after Switzerland’s financial regulator gave the move the all-clear this morning. Since June 2019, a spat between the EU and Switzerland has meant that the bloc’s exchanges have been banned from Swiss shares. But with the UK no longer a member of the [...]
Viagogo forced to break up Stubhub after $4bn takeover February 2, 2021 Viagogo must sell all of Stubhub’s operations outside the US to satisfy competition concerns over its $4bn (£2.9bn) takeover, regulators said today. A probe by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that the deal would lead to a substantial reduction in competition in the secondary ticketing market and potentially result in higher fees or [...]
Challenger audit firms prep for forced audit separation January 29, 2021 Challenger audit firms are readying themselves for audit separation, a requirement not yet expected of them, but one they see as inevitable in the future. Last summer audit regulator the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) ordered the Big Four firms – Deloitte, KPMG, PwC and EY – to separate their audit units from the rest of their [...]
Watchdog opens competition probe into Uber’s Autocab takeover January 29, 2021 The competition watchdog has opened an investigation into Uber’s planned takeover of taxi tech firm Autocab. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today said it had launched a probe and was inviting views on how the deal could impact the private hire vehicle market in the UK. Stockport-based Autocab sells booking and dispatch software to [...]
Insurance, disrupted: What does the start of 2021 tell us about the industry? January 29, 2021 We waited patiently for the new year. January was meant to be a fresh dawn, with many businesses embarking on transformation programmes to emerge stronger from the pandemic. But, looking at the economic and political events from this month, we see more disruption ahead. Particularly for insurance companies. Before founding OLIVER, I spent 15-years at Commercial [...]
Competition watchdog opens probe into Facebook’s Giphy takeover January 28, 2021 The UK competition watchdog has launched a formal investigation into Facebook’s takeover of popular gif search engine Giphy. Facebook last year announced it planned to merge the gif-maker with Instagram in a deal worth a reported $400m (£321m). The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) served an initial enforcement order in June, forcing the social media [...]
With no office, our future leaders are being held back January 27, 2021 In spite of the challenges facing central cities around the world at the moment, they are and will remain places with huge concentrations of the jobs which provide the greatest opportunities to learn and to move up the job hierarchy. For young people, Central London offers an unparalleled combination. A range of independent employers with [...]