Blacklist audit firms for fraud failures, urges Pirc April 19, 2021 Large audit firms that are deemed not to be working hard enough to root out corporate fraud will be blacklisted in this year’s annual shareholder meetings by Pirc. Pirc has urged investors have not to reappoint PwC, KPMG, EY or Grant Thornton because it believes they have not done enough to improve their fraud detection [...]
Flybe set for summer return as buyout deal completed April 14, 2021 Flybe’s journey back to the skies moved a step closer today after the sale of the collapsed airline to a firm backed by private equity firm Cyrus Capital was completed. The deal, which was first announced in October last year, will see new owner Thyme Opco change its name to Flybe Limited. A spokesperson for [...]
Judge to decide if PwC US lawfully sacked whistleblower April 14, 2021 Following a nine-day trial, a judge will decide if PwC US broke the law by firing a senior manager for blowing the whistle on the Big Four firm’s allegedly cosy relationship with two tech companies it audited. Former PwC senior manager Mauro Botta accused audit giant of firing him because he submitted complaints to the [...]
UK records strongest opening quarter IPO performance in 14 years April 12, 2021 UK listings got off to a strong start this year, with more funds raised in the opening quarter of 2021 than in any other opening quarter since 2007. The first quarter of 2021 also marked the most funds raised in a single quarter since 2014, according to new research from EY. Both the main market [...]
UK PMIs: Service sector returns to growth as lockdown end nears April 7, 2021 The UK’s services industry returned to growth in March, with business activity, new orders and unemployment all rebounding from the previous month. New data released this morning shows that the UK’s impressive vaccine rollout had seen the economy recover at a faster rate than initially expected. The IHS Markit/Cips purchasing managers (PMI) index for services registered 56.3 [...]
More than half of London businesses expect long-term Brexit disruption April 3, 2021 The majority of UK firms experienced some form of trade disruption following Brexit, and many expect there to be long-term disruption as a result of the new EU trading arrangements. Three-quarters (75%) of businesses have experienced some Brexit trade disruption and almost half (49%) say they expect some sort of disruption to continue in the [...]
Wall Street hits record high after FTSE 100 ends first quarter in the red March 31, 2021 Wall Street has posted its fourth consecutive quarter of gains after tech stocks pushed the S&P 500 to a record high today. The S&P 500 closed up 0.57 per cent, just shy of hitting 4,000 points for the first time as hopes of economic recovery offset a spike in US Treasury yields and the collapse [...]
City Moves: Who is switching jobs in the Square Mile this week? March 31, 2021 Snakes and Ladders provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Covatic appoints ex-BBC strategy head London-based start-up tech company Covatic has hired an ex-BBC veteran as its chief product officer. Daniel Pike joins the company, which aims to improve in-app consumer engagement, at [...]
PwC staff to head into the office two to three days a week post-Covid March 31, 2021 PwC will allow flexible working to continue when coronavirus restrictions ease, and has said staff can finish at lunchtime on Friday during July and August. The Big Four firm said it expects staff will spend an average of two to three days per week co-located with colleagues, either in the office or at client sites. [...]
UK insurers have more work to do on environmental policies March 31, 2021 Insurers in the UK have more work to do on the environmental and social aspects of ESG, though they are global leaders in governance. The UK is underperforming many of its European peers on environmental processes and reporting across a number of areas, research by Big Four consultancy firm EY has found. EY carried out [...]