New audit watchdog: FRC set to confirm CEO will move from London to Birmingham March 31, 2023 The CEO of the newly former audit watchdog will be based in Birmingham - a more than hour long train journey away from the country’s auditors, City A.M. understands.
The Notebook: Neil Wilson on Credit Suisse, interest rates and Ayn Rand March 22, 2023 How did you go bankrupt?” Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.” Hemingway’s wisecrack could be the epitaph for Credit Suisse, whose ignominious end caps a series of disasters at the Swiss bank, eventually bringing it to the brink on Sunday. UBS has probably done rather well, picking up CS for cents on the dollar, even if it will take [...]
Credit Suisse weighs up survival options as 167-year-old bank faces pressure to merge with rival UBS March 18, 2023 Credit Suisse Group began a make-or-break weekend after some rivals grew cautious in their dealings with the bank and regulators urged it to pursue a deal with Swiss rival UBS. Credit Suisse Chief Financial Officer Dixit Joshi and his teams will hold meetings over the weekend to assess strategic scenarios for the bank, people with knowledge of the matter [...]
PwC fined £7.5m over repeated failures in audit of Babcock International’s accounts March 8, 2023 Britain’s accounting watchdog has fined PwC and two of its former partners a combined sum of almost £8m over repeated failures in the firm’s audits of UK defence company Babcock International and its Plymouth dockyard subsidiary. The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) hit PwC with a £7.5m fine – discounted to £5.625m for the firm’s [...]
Audit reform plans ‘ready to go’ but government delays now holding UK back, accountancy chief warns February 20, 2023 The UK government’s failure to overhaul the country’s audit sector risks seeing Britain lose its position as a world-leading investment hub, the head of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales has warned. ICAEW chief Michael Izza told City A.M. continued delays to the UK’s planned reshaping of the country’s audit sector could see foreign investors [...]
Analysis: Audit watchdog faces catch-22 in hunt for new chief February 15, 2023 Britain’s audit watchdog is on the hunt for a new chief executive who can face down the Big Four accounting firms after Jon Thompson announced last week he would leave the post to lead the grossly delayed HS2 project. But in choosing a new boss, the newly-merged Department for Business and Trade has a difficult [...]
MJ Hudson: EY quits as auditor after it ‘lost trust and confidence’ in firm’s management February 13, 2023 EY has resigned as MJ Hudson’s auditor after losing trust in the company’s ability to “provide us with accurate and reliable information for audit”. The embattled asset manager received the news in a letter from the Big Four accountancy firm this morning in which EY said it would be resigning with immediate effect. In it’s [...]
FRC chief Jon Thompson to leave audit watchdog to lead HS2 project February 9, 2023 The head of the UK’s audit watchdog, Jon Thompson, is set to step down to take up a new position as the chair of HS2. Thompson has handed in his notice to leave his job as head of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and will now serve out his six-month notice period, Sky News first [...]
London firm Shipleys investigated over audit of Russian fintech Zaim Credit Systems January 18, 2023 The UK’s accounting regulator has launched an investigation into London accounting firm Shipleys over its audit work for the UK-listed holding company of Russian fintech firm Zaim Express. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said today that it has decided to open an investigation into the firm’s audit of Zaim Credit Systems’ 2021 accounts. The FRC’s [...]
Carillion: Five years on, MPs and industry leaders demand audit reform to ensure scandal is not repeated January 18, 2023 On the fifth anniversary of the collapse of outsourcer Carillion, MPs and audit sector leaders have united in calling on the UK government to push forwards with plans to overhaul the country’s audit sector. MPs said a shake-up of the country’s accounting industry is needed imminently to ensure that audit failures, such as the one [...]