Government must tackle £35bn corporate debt crisis, warn City bosses July 16, 2020 The government must take urgent action to prevent a wave of defaults on £35bn of corporate debt taken on during coronavirus wreaking havoc in the economy, a new report backed by some of the City’s biggest names has said. Policymakers should create a “UK Recovery Corporation” to turn risky debts into more manageable forms like [...]
Re-focusing on Brexit as we look to the future July 15, 2020 The UK Government has confirmed that it will not request an extension to the Brexit transition period which ends on 31st December 2020 and negotiations towards a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union (EU) are ongoing. Although the first half of this year has brought other priorities it’s now time to return our attention [...]
Third of UK audits fail accounting watchdog’s quality tests July 14, 2020 Britain’s accounting watchdog today said that a third of audits by the UK’s seven main accounting firms failed quality tests this year, amping up pressure for widescale reform in the sector. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said 29 of 88 audits carried out by Deloitte, PWC, EY, KPMG, BDO, Grant Thornton and Mazars this year [...]
Government dragging its feet on audit reform, says business committee July 14, 2020 The business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) committee has accused the government of dragging its feet on proposed audit reforms. The government has today published its response to the committee’s inquiry into the collapse of Thomas Cook last year. In the original findings from the inquiry last October, the committee expressed disappointment that the government [...]
London leads Europe in follow-on fundraising with busiest period in a decade July 13, 2020 While London markets may have faced a lull in new placings, they had their busiest half for follow-on fundraising in a decade. Data from accountancy firm EY shows more than £21bn of funds were raised in the first and second quarters in London. In the six months to June, existing issuers dominated the market raising [...]
Wirecard executive ‘touted Russian nerve gas documents’ July 9, 2020 Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek reportedly touted documents about the use of a Russian chemical weapon in the UK and bragged about ties to the intelligence services. Documents, which have been reviewed by the Financial Times and used in meetings in the summer of 2018, include the formula for the world’s deadliest nerve agent, novichok. The [...]
We must do more to tackle racial inequality in the workplace July 9, 2020 While I’m truly proud to take on the role of EY UK chair, having started at the firm 35 years ago, I’ve been profoundly struck by conversations with our Black colleagues following the killing of George Floyd, which have brought into sharp focus that the experience of everyone at EY isn’t the same. We, like other businesses, still have more to do. Race has been a core [...]
Tax less, spend more: the Chancellor’s Summer Statement July 8, 2020 The Chancellor delivered an Economic Statement that may not have been heralded as a Budget, but nonetheless delivered some significant changes to the country’s taxation and spending regime. In what was clearly a ‘Tax Less, Spend More’ statement, Rishi Sunak delivered not just a VAT cut for the few, but spending grants for the many. [...]
VAT rate cut: implementation for businesses will be more complicated than it appears July 8, 2020 The Chancellor’s announcement is a welcome and targeted measure for the hospitality and leisure sector which has been impacted by COVID-19 and this VAT reduction from 20% to 5% is designed to help stimulate spending. Prior to the announcement, there had been speculation that there would be a general rate cut – which we have recently [...]
City reckons more ‘enormous’ stimulus to come from Rishi Sunak in autumn July 8, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak today unveiled a package worth up to £30bn to boost the UK economy as the coronavirus lockdown is gradually eased, and promised it “will not be the last action”. At the centre of the stimulus is a “job retention bonus” worth up to £9bn that will pay companies to take back furloughed [...]