Sir Win Bischoff: Trustworthy information isn’t enough – trustworthy behaviour in a company is equally as important September 20, 2016 What can business do to rebuild public trust? There may be no silver bullet, but there is no doubt that corporate behaviours need to be closely aligned with long-term value creation for all stakeholders. With the government and others taking a close interest in issues that portray business as out of touch, firms face a [...]
Three former Tesco executives have been charged by the SFO in relation its accounting scandal September 9, 2016 Three former Tesco executives have been charged with fraud by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in relation its accounting scandal. The ex-financial director Carl Rogberg, former commercial director John Scouler and the former UK managing director Christopher Bush have been charged for their role in the retailer's profit overstatement. They have each been charged with one count of [...]
David Davis will invite City officials to weigh in on Brexit next month as part of plans to build a national consensus September 5, 2016 Brexit secretary David Davis has pledged to hold a raft of roundtables for business ahead of negotiations to leave the EU, and is set to kick off by inviting the City for discussions next month. Making a ministerial statement in parliament earlier today, Davis again reiterated Prime Minister Theresa May's decision that the UK will [...]
PwC pays largest ever uncontested fine to Financial Reporting Council over Cattles audit sign-off August 31, 2016 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) today fined PwC £2.3m in relation to the 2007 audit of failed sub-prime lender Cattles. The fines are the highest ever imposed by the FRC for an uncontested disciplinary hearing and only surpassed by the £3m of penalties accepted on appeal by Deloitte in connection with the failure of MG Rover. Total fines of £3.5m were reduced [...]
Ex-Tesco finance chief cleared over accounting scandal August 31, 2016 Tesco's former finance chief Laurie McIlwee has been cleared by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) over the supermarket's accounting scandal two years ago. The FRC was investigating McIlwee after it emerged in 2014 that the company had been overstating its profits in its accounts stretching back to 2012. McIlwee resigned his position as chief financial officer in April 2014, five [...]
Banning diesel cars is essential to tackling London’s pollution crisis August 17, 2016 Writing in City A.M. on Friday last week, Trevor Raymond from the World Platinum Investment Council argued that the phasing out of diesel cars from London’s roads, as recommended in a recent report we published, was a “blunt policy response to a complex and evolving [air pollution] problem”. We totally agree. There is no single [...]
London has the worst debt crisis in the UK August 16, 2016 Londoners have the most severe debt problems of anybody in the country, according to a leading debt advice charity. StepChange said those living in the capital were more likely to be behind on their monthly payments and typically had higher levels of borrowing than those across the rest of the UK. The findings comes in a [...]
Helena Morrissey moves from chief executive to chair of Newton Investment Management August 12, 2016 Helena Morrissey, one of the city's most influential figures, will move from chief executive to chair of Newton Investment Management as part of a leadership shake-up at the asset managers. Morrissey has been chief executive of the firm for 15 years, and will stay on as a non-executive chair of Newton's board. She will be replaced [...]
Frank Field has met with the director of the Serious Fraud Office to talk about BHS August 5, 2016 Frank Field, chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, has met with the director of the Serious Fraud Office to discuss the ongoing investigation into BHS and Sir Philip Green. Field said the discussion with the SFO's director David Green came about because of concerns surrounding assurances made about Retail Acquisitions (RAL), the company majority-owned by [...]
Why UK M&A activity is on the rise despite Brexit vote fears August 5, 2016 Figures recently released by Thomson Reuters have shown that widespread concern about M&A activity slowing down as a result of Brexit has very much been unfounded. In the first half of 2016, as the Brexit vote loomed, M&A activity was tailing off due to uncertainty in the corporate world, and experts were warning that the [...]