Accountants face new rule to cut risk January 17, 2010 THE world’s Big Four accounting firms must appoint independent non-executives to help reduce the risk of an Andersen-style collapse, under the terms of a new UK governance code published today. The Audit Firm Governance Code – which has been drawn up at the request of the Financial Reporting Council – is the first time the [...]
Economists in dispute over BoE strategy January 14, 2010 ECONOMISTS proved divided over the success of the Bank of England’s quantitative easing (QE) policy at a roundtable hosted by the Bank of England and the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). A summary of the discussion, which took place on 15 December, was released yesterday on the condition that participants were kept anonymous. It [...]
London must not be sacrificed in age of austerity January 3, 2010 As was recently reported, I am taking a hands-on approach to the Mayoralty – from basting the family Christmas Turkey down in the kitchens of Mansion House to defending the City’s interests against Nicholas Sarkozy’s plans for European domination, I am not afraid to get my hands dirty! That is why, if I were to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 17, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES STRICKEN SCOTTISH AIRLINE’S £30M IN QUESTION Administrators of Globespan, the collapsed Scottish airline that has left thousands of passengers stranded abroad, were investigating last night why £30m of its funds were being held by E-Clear, the company that handles its credit card transactions. Bruce Cartwright, of PwC, said he understood that about half [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 14, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES COUNCILS THREATEN ICELAND BANK ACTION Council leaders have threatened to launch legal proceedings against a failed Icelandic bank which they fear will not repay £150m in deposits made by local authorities before the credit crunch. British councils had £900m of deposits in Iceland when a trio of its banks collapsed. So far barely [...]
CHAIRMEN FACING ANNUAL ELECTION November 30, 2009 COMPANY chairmen could face annual re-election under wide-ranging new proposals on corporate governance published today. The consultation by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), chaired by Sir Christopher Hogg, also suggested external assessments of boards’ performance every three years. The guidelines are the latest attempt to reform the Combined Code and overhaul boardroom accountability in the [...]
F&C DITCHES THE DORCHESTER FOR A LEANER SHOWING AT PING PONG November 25, 2009 THINGS may be looking up in terms of the economy, but the corporate Christmas goose is looking just as lean as it was in the depths of the financial crisis last year – and a little bird tells me that asset management firm F&C Investments is among the companies trimming its budget. Usually, F&C staffers [...]
WALKER REVIEW: ALL THE POINTS AT A GLANCE November 25, 2009 BOARD SIZE, COMPOSITION AND QUALIFICATION 1. Non-executive directors at banks or other financial institutions will need to go on training programmes.2. The board should provide non-execs with extra support on appropriate issues as and when needed. 3. Non-execs at a FTSE 100-listed bank or life assurance company should give more time to their roles. Several [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 11, 2009 Saxo BankThe bank has officially appointed Tom Hougaard as a market commentator for its financial spreads division. Hougaard, who also regularly hosts educational market trading seminars throughout the UK, previously worked as chief market strategist for City Index for eight years. He will be based in Saxo Bank’s London office and will provide twice-daily market [...]
Big Four faces auditing probe November 5, 2009 THE big four accountancy firms have been put on notice over possible conflicts of interest stemming from the growing overlap of internal and external audit services. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has launched a three-month inquiry after details of a deal between KPMG and Rentokil were made public. The controversial contract provides a “deeper” service [...]