KPMG plans to hikes fees by up to 20 per cent due to higher cost of staffing May 19, 2022 Big Four accountancy firm KPMG has warned clients it is planning to substantially increase its audit fees, in order to pay for higher salaries. The auditor told its clients it plans to increase fees by between 5 per cent and 20 per cent due to facing higher costs linked to new industry rules and the [...]
UK’s audit sector trade bodies would not object to giving Big Four fines to the government May 19, 2022 Two of the UK’s biggest audit industry trade bodies have said they would welcome any plans to see money raised through fines against auditors given over to the UK government, in order to fund Britain’s regulatory bodies. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) both [...]
KPMG faces record £14.4m fine after auditors misled watchdog during Carillion inspection May 12, 2022 KPMG is set to be hit with a record £14.4m fine after a tribunal found five of its former staff deliberately misled the UK’s audit watchdog by forging documents during routine inspections of their work. The tribunal heard the UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) had agreed to reduce KPMG’s fine from a sum of £20m, [...]
UK’s accountancy sector turnovers soar to record highs May 12, 2022 The UK’s accountancy firms generated more cash in March than in any other month on record, new Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures show. Turnover in Britain’s accountancy sector jumped 14 per cent from February to March to record highs of £4.13bn. The multi-billion sum comes as a new high for the UK’s accountancy industry, [...]
UK watchdog launches probe into tiny accountancy firm King & King over Sanjeev Gupta audits May 4, 2022 The UK’s accounting watchdog has launched an investigation into four audits carried out by little-known accountancy firm King & King, of firms linked to embattled steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said it would be probing King & King’s audits of financial results posted by four of separate companies linked to Sanjeev [...]
UK audit chief in the running for HS2 top job May 2, 2022 The head of the UK’s accounting watchdog is reportedly in the running to lead the High Speed 2 rail construction project, raising further questions about the future of the country’s audit regime. Sir John Thompson, chief executive of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), is in the frame for becoming the new chair of the project, [...]
UK government drops audit reform from Queen’s Speech agenda April 30, 2022 The UK government is expected to announce further delays to its shakeup of the audit sector, after dropping a draft bill on audit reform from the Queen’s Speech. A draft bill to introduce a raft of measures aimed at reforming the UK’s audit industry, including by replacing the UK’s audit watchdog with a new more [...]
One in ten big UK firms failing in legal requirement to have modern slavery statement April 25, 2022 A tenth of big British firms are failing to meet the legal requirement of having a statement on modern slavery. A recent sampling of 100 companies by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) found a tenth didn’t address the scourge, which generates £126bn annually. The FRC looked at 100 annual reports for firms which are regulated [...]
UK watchdog fines Deloitte £2m over failures in audit of Mitie’s accounts April 21, 2022 The UK’s audit watchdog has fined Big Four accountancy firm Deloitte and audit partner John Charlton over a raft of failures in its audit of the accounts of outsourcing company Mitie. The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) fined Deloitte £2m and Charlton a furth £65,000 after discovering a number of “deficiencies” in the audit of [...]
The City View: Victoria Scholar on rising prices, unemployment and retail sales data; and XR cause Lloyd’s of London HQ shutdown April 12, 2022 Today Andy Silvester talks to Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at Interactive Investor. They go through some of the week’s economics data on GDP, unemployment, retail sales, and talk trading updates. They discuss the latest from ASOS, Deliveroo, and EasyJet: ASOS is facing a raft of headwinds, as investors lose confidence in the online retailer; [...]