Government and industry team up to launch new shale gas study January 13, 2014 So the government’s shale push continues after yesterday’s business rate bonanza for local councils, with a new study to assess what the industry needs in terms of skills, material and equipment. The new study, conducted by EY, is jointly funded by the Department of Business Skills & Innovation (BIS) and the United Kingdom Onshore Operators [...]
Business lending to boom as UK recovery takes hold January 12, 2014 LENDING is set to rise in every area of the economy, analysts at EY forecast today, as the recovery finally gives banks the confidence to supply more credit. No other European country’s bankers have so much confidence, the study found, underlining the strength of the recovery in Britain. Firms of all sizes and sectors in [...]
City Moves for 10 January 2014 | Who’s switching jobs January 9, 2014 Grant ThorntonThe business advisory firm has announced the appointment of Richard Milnes as a partner in its financial services tax team. He joins from EY, and has previously worked in international tax for Shell and as head of tax planning at Lloyds. CouttsThe bank has recruited Matthew Spencer as executive director and head of intermediaries [...]
Strong services keep UK in top spot in Europe January 6, 2014 GROWTH in Britain’s service industries slowed slightly during December, but a major survey of firms suggests that the UK economy is still expanding at the fastest pace in western Europe. In Markit’s latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI), the UK’s headline figure dropped to 58.8, still well above the neutral 50 mark. Combined with earlier surveys [...]
Watchdog slams Deutsche Bank January 6, 2014 GERMAN banking watchdog BaFin has criticised Deutsche Bank’s management for the way it responded to a probe into manipulation of the Libor benchmark interest rate, according to German magazine Der Spiegel. A Bafin-commissioned report by EY showed that “insufficient efforts were made to investigate and clear up events in the bank,” Der Spiegel quoted. BaFin [...]
Deal-makers are hoping that UK M&A returns to form January 6, 2014 AS WE head into the New Year the City will be cautiously optimistic about likely activity in the corporate finance markets in 2014. Last year saw a major revival in the new issues or initial public offering (IPO) market, which had been virtually dead in 2012. UK IPO revenue totals were 274 per cent up [...]
The year in preview: Our in-depth guide January 5, 2014 City A.M.’s journalists take a wide-ranging look at what 2014 has in store for the world of finance and business BANKINGRestoring faith means costly overhaulsA CAUTIOUS optimism pervades the British and European banking system at the start of 2014. The incoming economic recovery is at last improving customers’ creditworthiness, while the hard work running down [...]
EY pays £1.2m over its audit of Christmas savings club Farepak December 19, 2013 EY, the accountancy group that checked the books for collapsed Christmas savings club Farepak, was yesterday reprimanded and agreed to pay £1.2m in fines and costs. Farepak’s collapse in 2006 left more than 100,000 savers out of pocket by a total of £37m. The Financial Reporting Council found yesterday that EY and its then-partner Alan [...]
New issues make a strong comeback in the London market December 18, 2013 As the year comes to an end there’s definitely cause for celebration in London’s new issues or Initial Public Offering (IPO) market. According to figures out today from EY, the advisory firm, there were 14 main market share listings this year, raising £5.2bn. That’s not exactly an avalanche of deals but the total represents a [...]
Bonuses clipped by shareholder spring activism December 17, 2013 BONUSES for top executives at the UK’s biggest public companies dropped in the last financial year, as the effect of 2012’s shareholder spring rolled on. According to research revealed by EY today, bonuses for chief executive officers in FTSE 100 firms dropped 5.2 per cent in 2012-13, compared to their levels in the previous financial [...]