With increased scrutiny of the profession, it’s time for auditing to be in the public interest May 16, 2019 Auditing in the UK is undergoing unprecedented scrutiny, and the magnifying scope is focusing on all aspects of the sector. The myriad reviews, some of which are ongoing, are being conducted by regulators, politicians and government departments, each separately looking at audit’s effectiveness, competition across the sector, and its future in general. Most notably, the [...]
Watchdog hits accountancy firm with £825,000 fine over failings in Laura Ashley audit May 9, 2019 Accountancy watchdog the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has fined Moore Stephens successor firm MSR Partners for failings in its audit of Laura Ashley. MSR Partners is a successor business of Moore Stephens – which merged with BDO in February. Read more: KPMG stung with £5m fine for Co-op Bank audit failures The FRC fined MSR [...]
Labour’s renationalisation plan isn’t just illiterate, it’s immoral May 8, 2019 Want to buy something, but can’t quite afford it? Just use a simple trick from John McDonnell. Here’s how it works. You say: “We’ll pay a fraction of the actual price.” They say: “Sorry, you can’t do that.” You say: “Yes, we can. We’re the government.” That, in essence, is Labour’s plan to renationalise the [...]
KPMG stung with £5m fine for Co-op Bank audit failures as breakup talks roll on May 8, 2019 KPMG has been hit with a £5m fine for misconduct relating to an audit of Co-op Bank. Audit partner Andrew Walker was also fined £125,000, with both “severely reprimanded” by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). Read more: Watchdog slaps KPMG with £6m fine over insurance audit The Big Four audit giant and Walker admitted their [...]
Severn Trent chairman to step down as water firm implements new business plan May 7, 2019 Water firm Severn Trent said today its chairman Andrew Duff is to step down after nine years at the helm. Read more: Locals' attempts to thwart Severn Trent's Dee Valley Water takeover fails The departure comes amid the company gearing up to implement its new business plan after being awarded fast track status by Britain’s [...]
Labour briefing paper ‘outlines Corbyn plan to renationalise water companies’ May 5, 2019 Jeremy Corbyn would reportedly try to renationalise water companies if he came to power, according to leaked internal documents, in a plan which could see him pay up to £24bn less than their market value. Read more: Government ready to compromise with Corbyn through 'gritted teeth' The Labour leader's plans could cause pensioners, employees and [...]
Corbyn’s past just keeps tripping him up May 2, 2019 The charge sheet is grim. He defended a mural depicting hook-nosed Jewish bankers playing monopoly on the backs of the poor. He claimed Israel exerts “unbelievably high levels of influence” over “the upper echelons of parts of the media”. He presides over a party struggling to deal with complaints of antisemitism among its members and [...]
Watchdog slaps KPMG with £6m fine over insurance audit April 30, 2019 A financial watchdog has stung KPMG with a £6m fine and “severely reprimanded” the auditor after finding fault with how an insurance audit was conducted. Read more: KPMG examining audit spin-off in wake of damning report from MPs KPMG must also carry out an internal review following the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) findings, which relate [...]
The material consequences of choosing sustainable fashion April 29, 2019 The textile industry – primarily the business of cloth and clothing – produces close to 100 million tonnes of fibres every year. This number is only set to grow as purchasing power in emerging markets rises. The industry – and its growth – has huge consequences for the environment and climate change, producing some 1.2 [...]
BT’s Italian accounting fraud linked to London, investigation reveals April 23, 2019 A criminal investigation into BT’s Italian division has uncovered a string of damning emails linking UK executives to alleged accounting fraud in the country. Emails seized by police and seen by Reuters appear to show that senior executives in the UK were involved in artificially inflating financial results for BT’s Italian business, despite the fact [...]