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 [...]
EY pays £1.2m over its audit of Christmas savings club Farepak December 19, 2013 EY, the accountancy group that checked the books for collapsed Christmas savings club Farepak, was yesterday reprimanded and agreed to pay £1.2m in fines and costs. Farepak’s collapse in 2006 left more than 100,000 savers out of pocket by a total of £37m. The Financial Reporting Council found yesterday that EY and its then-partner Alan [...]
Complaints bodies beefed up December 18, 2013 The government has announced four bodies that have been given the power to report problems in the financial services sector to the Financial Conduct Authority. Which?, the Consumer Council Northern Ireland, Citizens Advice and the Federation of Small Businesses can make complaints to the FCA which it must respond to within 90 days. Sajid Javid, [...]
Europe agrees to new rules on audit switching December 17, 2013 EUROPEAN politicians struck a deal yesterday that paves the way for new rules forcing companies to switch auditors at least once every 24 years. After years of wrangling and stalled talks, MEPs have agreed in principle to vote for the law, which aims to ensure auditors are better able to flag up problems at their [...]
2013 sees mortage lending rise by a quarter as market warms December 12, 2013 MORTGAGE lending rose by nearly a quarter in the 12 months to October, as prices and activity in the housing market begin to climb again for the first time since the financial crisis. According to figures released by the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML) yesterday, lending for house purchases rose 24 per cent in the [...]
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 [...]
City Matters: It’s time for financial results to reflect the new face of post-crisis business December 8, 2013 ONE OF the charges that has often been laid against the City in recent years is that it has been too focused on short-term value. Many things have changed as a result of the crash, and one of them has been an increased awareness that the way companies currently report results is not fit for [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 21 November 2013 November 20, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Obama snubs Fannie-Freddie plan The White House came out against a proposal by a group of hedge funds to take over and recapitalise the core operations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the US mortgage finance giants, saying it risked creating two new “too big to fail” institutions. Gene Sperling, the White House [...]