How London can fend off the European hotspots vying for its fintech crown October 1, 2018 Flash back to the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote. “London has committed suicide as a leading fintech centre,” tweeted Traxpay, a German payments platform. Catchy advertising urged startups to “keep calm and move to Berlin”. Read more: Meet the startups in the Treasury-backed Tech Nation fintech accelerator Over two years later, and it’s French [...]
Pressure mounts on the CMA to break up accountancy’s Big Four October 1, 2018 The UK’s competition body has been told to “bare its teeth” and investigate breaking up the Big Four accountancy firms, as it prepares to announce a decision on whether it will investigate the sector. Three senior politicians from across the main parties have called on the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to find ways to [...]
Business secretary Greg Clark orders competition watchdog to carry out review of audit sector September 29, 2018 Business secretary Greg Clark has ordered the competition watchdog to carry out a sweeping review of the UK's audit sector. In a year when the Big Four audit firms have been hit by numerous scandals, Clark has told Andrew Tyrie, head of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to carry out the review into competition in [...]
Taxpayers to foot £65m bill from Carillion redundancies September 25, 2018 Taxpayers are set to cough up £65m in redundancy payouts following the collapse of outsourcer giant Carillion. The liquidated construction services company, which bucked under the weight of a £1.5bn debt pile in January, has so far paid out £50m of the total £65m after thousands of workers were made redundant. The figures also [...]
EY-backed London marine insurtech Concirrus raises £5m September 25, 2018 London insurance technology startup Concirrus today closed a further £5m fundraising effort from deeptech investor IQ Capital and EOS Venture Partners, taking its total amount raised to date to £12m. The news comes after the firm signed a global deal with Big Four accountancy firm EY in April earlier this year, pushing Concirrus’ disruptive machine [...]
Labour mulls break-up of Big Four accountancy firms September 21, 2018 The Labour party is weighing up radical plans to break up the Big Four accountancy firms, amid mounting pressure on the UK’s scandal-hit auditors. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell vowed to end what he described as a “cartel” among the country’s largest bean counters in the run-up to his party conference this weekend. “They have demonstrated [...]
Labour mulls break-up of Big Four accountancy firms September 21, 2018 The Labour party is weighing up radical plans to break up the Big Four accountancy firms, amid mounting pressure on the UK’s scandal-hit auditors. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell vowed to end what he described as a “cartel” among the country’s largest bean counters in the run-up to his party conference this weekend. “They have demonstrated [...]
Deficit rises unexpectedly in August on back of weak tax receipts September 21, 2018 Public sector borrowing has fallen to its lowest point since 2002 for the financial year to date at £17.8bn, £7.8bn less than the same time last year. However, August borrowing of £6.8bn came in at double economists' expectations, and was £2.4bn higher than the same month last year, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. Economists had expected [...]
Deficit rises unexpectedly in August on back of weak tax receipts September 21, 2018 Public sector borrowing has fallen to its lowest point since 2002 for the financial year to date at £17.8bn, £7.8bn less than the same time last year. However, August borrowing of £6.8bn came in at double economists' expectations, and was £2.4bn higher than the same month last year, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. Economists had expected [...]
Cyber insurance, the Great Fire of London, and the need for digital fire fighters in the modern day September 20, 2018 A quick history lesson for you. Earlier this month, we commemorated the 352nd anniversary of the Great Fire of London, which destroyed 13,200 homes, as well as St Paul’s Cathedral. The giant Monument is a stone’s throw from the City A.M. offices. The fire blazed from 2 to 6 September, and the inhabitants of London [...]