Halifax: UK house prices suffer longest fall since 2010 July 7, 2020 UK house prices fell for the fourth month in a row in June for the first time since 2010, according to Halifax data released today. Unlike rival Nationwide, which found the value of homes shrank for the first time on an annual basis in June, Halifax recorded a 2.5 per cent-year-on-year rise. But as the [...]
Munich prosecutors arrest head of Wirecard’s Dubai unit July 6, 2020 Munich prosecutors have arrested the head of a Dubai-based subsidiary of Wirecard on suspicion of aggravated fraud. Oliver Bellenhaus is the second senior Wirecard employee to be arrested after the former chief executive Markus Braun last month, who has since been released on bail. The firm Bellenhaus ran, CardSystems Middle East, was the largest individual [...]
‘Utterly inadequate’: Experts slam watchdog’s Big Four audit split July 6, 2020 The audit watchdog’s move to force the Big Four accountancy firms to ring-fence their audit units has been condemned as a “cosmetic exercise” by industry experts. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) today announced that the Big Four — PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY — must separate their audit and non-audit businesses by 2024 to ensure [...]
Watchdog orders Big Four to separate auditing units by 2024 July 6, 2020 The Big Four accounting firms — PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY — must separate their audit units from the rest of their businesses by 2024, the audit watchdog said this morning. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is asking the companies to agree to operational separation by June 2024 to ensure their audits “do not rely [...]
Head of audit review calls for urgent reform after Wirecard scandal July 2, 2020 The head of the review into the auditing industry has called on the government to press on with an overhaul of the sector, after a Big Four firm failed to uncover fraud at Wirecard. After a series of allegations against Wirecard, EY, which has been the firm’s auditor since 2009, said it was unable to [...]
Regulator told about Wirecard ‘link to laundering’ last year July 2, 2020 The financial watchdog was reportedly warned last year that Wirecard had alleged links to a scheme that used bogus online stores to conceal the processing of high-risk payments. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was given details of an operation where allegedly fake sites were used as a front for channeling gambling proceeds through the payments [...]
Accenture to cut up to 900 UK jobs as coronavirus bites July 1, 2020 Consultancy firm Accenture is planning to axe up to 900 jobs in the UK as the firm tries to cut costs to deal with the coronavirus crisis and an uncertain future. Accenture is a US firm headquartered in New York, but it employs more than 10,000 people in the UK. The job cuts are part [...]
Wirecard offices raided by Munich prosecutors over missing €1.9bn July 1, 2020 Wirecard offices in Germany and two locations in Austria have been raided by German prosecutors investigating the missing €1.9bn from its accounts. A spokesperson for the Munich authority said 12 prosecutors and 33 police officers are conducting searches, according to Bloomberg reports. In June, police searched Wirecard’s offices after prosecutors launched an investigation into former [...]
UK house prices fall for first time since 2012 amid coronavirus July 1, 2020 UK house prices posted an annual fall for the first time since 2012 in June amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to Nationwide’s index today. Growth turned negative last month with prices slipping 0.1 per cent year on year, following a 1.8 per cent climb in May, Nationwide said. Its data showed UK house prices also [...]
Wirecard UK fallout lessens June 30, 2020 Readers will be very familiar with the €1.9bn Wirecard scandal that has rocked Germany, firmly placed a spotlight back onto the world of auditors and dangerously caused pause for thought for Fintech firms in the U.K. from a regulatory standpoint. As of this morning at 00.01 the FCA resumed Wirecard Solutions’ regulated activities which meant [...]