Five best read on City A.M.: EY ‘business as normal’, 1,300 Lloyds Pharmacies up for closure, Cameron Smith, F1 ‘marriage’ on the rocks and crypto ban March 10, 2023 EY’s decision to push ahead with mid-year promotions after KPMG called off its April round was this week’s best read story on City A.M. It had some stiff competition with sporting heroes Cameron Smith and Lewis Hamilton vying for readers’ interest, not to mention news of a crypto ban and high street closures. We look [...]
EY puts global split on hold following fight over tax business March 9, 2023 EY’s plans to split its audit division from its consulting arm are on the brink of collapse amid a fight over the future of its tax business. The Big Four accounting firm has “paused” its plans for a global split, in the face of fierce disagreements over the extent to which its tax division should [...]
Beazley forced to lower chief exec’s pay following mistake in insurer’s results March 8, 2023 Beazley was today forced to publish a correction to its balance sheet after the Financial Times spotted an embarrassing error in its annual report. In its annual results statement, insurer Beazley overstated the value of its ‘net assets per share’ in reporting them at 420.8c instead of their real value 386.7c. Beazley’s error is particularly [...]
Darktrace warns of rise in ‘hacktivism’ and AI threats as profits fall 92 per cent March 8, 2023 Cybersecurity firm Darktrace reported a plunge in profits in the first half of its financial year today amid a rise in employer tax charges and a slowdown in new business. In a trading update on the six months to the end of December, the firm said operating profit had fallen 91.6 per cent to $577,000 [...]
London’s capital markets woes deepen as WANdisco eyes New York March 6, 2023 London’s ambitions to elevate its capital markets on the international stage were dealt a fresh blow today as data firm Wandisco became the latest UK tech outfit to reveal it was eyeing a New York listing. In a statement this morning, the AIM-listed firm said it was in the “early stages” of scoping out a [...]
Exclusive: Tech chiefs look to win over pension funds on UK ‘sovereign wealth fund’ plans March 6, 2023 Tech and fintech industry chiefs have met with some of the City’s top pension funds as part of plans to create a UK “sovereign wealth fund” that could help unleash a wave of funding into the UK’s tech startups, City A.M. can reveal.
EY to push ahead with mid-year promotions after KPMG calls off April round March 5, 2023 EY has said it is pushing ahead with this year’s round of mid-year promotions “as normal,” following reports that Big Four rival KPMG has called off its own round of April promotions. An EY spokesperson told City A.M. the “small number of mid-year promotions” it makes “every year” are “continuing as normal.” KPMG, by contrast, [...]
‘Fading recession fears’ boost optimism as services sector bounced back to growth in February March 3, 2023 The UK’s service sector bounced back to growth in February as business optimism improved and activity expanded at the fastest pace since June. The S&P Global/CIPS UK services PMI survey showed a reading of 53.5 in February, up from 48.7 in January and slightly ahead of market expectations. Any score above 50 is considered growth [...]
Regulators holding back fintech firms in cost of living crunch, industry body says March 2, 2023 Regulatory red tape is stopping fintech firms from boosting financial inclusion and helping consumers through a cost of living crunch, the industry body and EY said today. In a new report, Innovate Finance and big four firm EY said today that City regulators need to quickly expand the UK’s open banking regime and loosen rules [...]
EY’s China staff asked to wear communist party badges to work February 27, 2023 Staff in EY’s Beijing offices have reportedly been asked to wear their communist party badges to work. A communist party committee in EY’s China business called on party members to wear their hammer and sickle pins in the office, the Financial Times reported. In an email to party members working in EY’s Beijing office, the [...]