Thomas Cook’s Belgian operations announce bankruptcy October 1, 2019 Thomas Cook’s operations in Belgium have officially been declared bankrupt, putting 500 jobs at risk. A commercial court today ruled that Thomas Cook Retail Belgium – the largest Belgian subsidiary of the collapsed travel giant – had collapsed into administration. Read more: FRC watchdog probes EY audit of Thomas Cook accounts The retail arm had [...]
FRC watchdog probes EY audit of Thomas Cook accounts October 1, 2019 The UK’s financial watchdog has launched an investigation into EY’s audit of Thomas Cook’s last set of financial results. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has started its probe into EY’s audit of the collapsed tour operator’s financial year ending 30 September 2018. Read more: DEBATE: Is Thomas Cook’s boss right to defend his high pay? [...]
Audit watchdog beefs up standards in response to corporate failures September 30, 2019 Accountancy regulator the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) today announced it was beefing up audit standards in response to a string of major corporate failures. The FRC said it was introducing a new standard related to going concern status, where auditors judge a company’s financial position. Outsourcer Carillion and department store chain BHS both received clean [...]
More heat than light in Thomas Cook debate September 29, 2019 One Thomas Cook was bailed out last week. Thanks to the generosity of friends, family and the Linden Princess Hotel in Rhodes, Thomas Cook’s wedding to Amelia Binch went ahead last Friday. The couple feared all was lost after the travel operator, with whom they had booked a wedding package, collapsed in spectacular style. More [...]
Senior official for Brexit planning and head of the Border Delivery Group set to quit September 28, 2019 The director general for EU exit implementation is set to quit his role just weeks before the UK is due to leave the European Union. Matthew Coats will step down from his post as one of the UK’s most senior ranking officials for Brexit planning in the latest upheaval of the civil service, according to [...]
Thomas Cook: Travel giant ‘collapsed with a £3.1bn balance sheet deficit’ September 25, 2019 Thomas Cook would have run out of cash by early October had it not gone into liquidation on Monday, such was the calamitous state of the travel giant’s finances, according to reports. In a High Court witness statement, now-former chief executive Peter Fankhauser said the firm had a balance sheet deficit of more than £3bn. [...]
Thomas Cook collapse: Regulators and business groups clamour for answers September 24, 2019 Regulators and business groups today lined up to demand answers over the collapse of holiday giant Thomas Cook. Accounting watchdog the Financial Reporting Council said it is mulling a full-scale probe into whether it breached accounting standards. A spokesman said it is considering the case “as a matter of urgency”. Read more: Thomas Cook collapse [...]
Thomas Cook: CBI backs probe into executive pay after collapse September 24, 2019 Influential business lobby group the CBI has thrown its weight behind a full-scale inquiry into executive pay at collapsed holiday giant Thomas Cook. Nearly 15,000 people returned to Britain yesterday on specially-chartered flights after the firm collapsed under the weight of a £1.7bn debt pile. More than 100,000 people are still awaiting repatriation by the [...]
Thomas Cook: Watchdog mulls whether to probe collapsed airline’s accounts September 24, 2019 Britain’s accounting watchdog is looking into investigating whether Thomas Cook breached accounting standards, after the travel giant collapsed yesterday. Nearly 15,000 people returned to Britain yesterday on specially-chartered flights after the firm collapsed under the weight of a £1.7bn debt pile. Read more: Was the collapse of Thomas Cook inevitable? The Financial Reporting Council said [...]
PwC partner profits jump to £765,000 despite criticism for poor quality of audit work September 16, 2019 Partner profits at PwC UK increased 7.4 per cent to £765,000 this year, despite the firm receiving a dressing down from the regulator for the decline in the quality of its audit work. Profit for the year to 30 June increased to £1.016bn, up from £935m the previous year. Revenue leapt 12 per cent to [...]