We must recapture the power of long-termism to restore faith in the market July 16, 2014 Peter Lynch, the great American fund manager at Fidelity, returned an average of 29 per cent a year for his investors between 1977 and his retirement in 1990. An investment of $1,000 at the outset would have grown to $27,000 by the end of that period. That exceptional long-term record shows the huge power of [...]
Watchdog to start tribunal over Baker Tilly audit issue June 11, 2014 CHARTERED accountants Baker Tilly came under fire from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) yesterday, the latest in a series of issues the watchdog had raised over an audit of accounts conducted for 2007 and 2008. The complaint launched by the FRC concerns audits of financial statements for Tanfield, a manufacturer of electric vehicles, from 2007. [...]
Auditors are told to get tough with banks on loss provisions May 28, 2014 AUDITORS for British banks and building societies are not scrutinising the firms’ books closely enough, despite repeated warnings that auditors should have caught some of the warning signs ahead of the 2008 financial crisis, a watchdog said yesterday. The Financial Reporting Council flagged up poor testing of loan impairment models and a widespread reluctance among [...]
Watchdog call for clawbacks April 23, 2014 BRITAIN’S reporting watchdog wants all listed companies to claw back bonuses from top staff who fail to perform. Clawback rules, which have been adopted by the banks, would be extended to all FTSE firms under the Financial Reporting Council’s plans. The FRC also said firms should explain more clearly what they will do when investors [...]
Retiring Lloyds chairman to join the Financial Reporting Council January 23, 2014 THE OUTGOING chairman of Lloyds Banking Group has been picked to chair the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the accounting regulator said yesterday. Sir Win Bischoff, who retires from Lloyds in April, will replace Baroness Hogg at the FRC on 1 May. He was chosen for the job after an eight-month search for Hogg’s replacement, conducted [...]
Fresh probe for former Bradford & Bingley exec January 21, 2014 THE ACCOUNTING watchdog has launched an investigation into Chris Willford, the former finance director of bailed-out banking group Bradford & Bingley. The Financial Reporting Council’s probe comes a month after Willford was fined £30,000 by the Financial Conduct Authority for failing to alert the bank’s board to key financial risks ahead of B&B’s attempted rights [...]
Watchdog to formally probe KPMG audit of troubled bank January 20, 2014 KPMG’S work on the Co-operative Bank’s accounts will be formally investigated, the Financial Reporting Council said yesterday. The watchdog said it will probe KPMG’s approval and audit of the Co-op Bank’s 2012 results, following the bank’s revelation last year that it had a £1.5bn capital hole. The FRC, which has powers to fine and suspend [...]
Experian picks chief exec as its new chairman January 16, 2014 EXPERIAN’S chief executive is stepping into the chairman’s role from July, the firm announced yesterday, eight months after hiring headhunters to search for a new chair. The credit checking and data services group said Don Robert will leave the chief exec post to replace Sir John Peace, who said last May that he planned to [...]
British accounting watchdog to review bookkeeping at banks December 12, 2013 THE UK’S accounting watchdog will begin reviewing bookkeeping at banks in the second quarter of 2014 to find out why the lessons of the financial crisis are being applied so slowly. Since several banks were bailed out by taxpayers during the 2007-09 crisis, politicians have been asking why auditors gave the lenders a clean bill of [...]
UBS to combine currency, rates and credit trading into new unit November 28, 2013 SWISS bank UBS has reorganised part of its investment bank to put its currency, interest rates and credit trading businesses into one unit, amid a growing European investigation into potential manipulation of currency markets. A memo sent by the bank last week said a new FRC (FX, rates, credit) unit will be run by Chris [...]