Bank of England to tighten monetary policy to tame runaway inflation August 5, 2021 The Bank of England signalled today it is likely to start reining in the wave of monetary stimulus it unleashed in response to the Covid crisis to control inflation. “At some point, monetary policy may need to tighten so that the MPC can meet its remit” of achieving an inflation target of two per cent, [...]
KPMG fined £13m over Silentnight sale misconduct August 5, 2021 The accounting firm has been fined and ordered to pay over £2.75m in costs, for serious misconduct in its role in the 2011 sale of bed retailer Silentnight to a private equity group. An independent tribunal found that KPMG and one of its partners did not comply with the UK professional accounting principles of objectivity [...]
Bank of England’s MPC meeting: Who will take Haldane’s hawkish reins? August 3, 2021 A big hole has been left at the table of the latest round of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee meetings – they are the first since chief economist Andy Haldane departed the Old Lady after over 30 years of service. Much of the focus on Thursday’s MPC policy announcements will be on whether [...]
Wave of dealmaking sees private equity investment in UK soar to highest level in five years August 3, 2021 Private equity deal value and volumes in the first half of the year rose to levels not seen since 2017, as investors gained confidence in post-pandemic recovery. There was a marked interest in mid-market private equity dealmaking, as funds competed for quality assets and completed 377 deals in the first six months of the year, [...]
KPMG may rebuild restructuring arm one year after selling it for over £350m July 29, 2021 KPMG is reportedly creating a new division to advise on corporate restructurings, less than a year after it sold its UK insolvency advisory business for over £350m. The big four auditor made the move as a result of new competition laws which made achieving profits from its non-auditing services harder, according to the report in [...]
Amanda Pritchard to become first female chief executive of NHS in England July 28, 2021 It’s done: Amanda Pritchard is to become the new head of the NHS in England. Pritchard has worked as chief operating officer under outgoing boss Sir Simon Stevens, who finishes his tenure at the end of the week. She will take over in the midst of a third wave of Covid-19 and as the NHS [...]
PwC sued by racing car dealer for failing to spot alleged fraud July 27, 2021 PwC has been sued by the administrators of JD Classics, a racing car dealership, for allegedly failing to to spot fraud resulting in losses of over £41m. The UK’s biggest accounting firm was accused by administrators from Alvarez & Marsal of being negligent in their handling of accounts between 2016 and 2017 according to the [...]
Watchdog slams KPMG for ‘unacceptable’ bank audits for third year running July 26, 2021 KPMG has been called out for failing to meet standards in its bank audits for the third year in a row, by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in a review published on Friday, that found that a third of large company audits by the biggest UK firms failed to meet standards. The industry watchdog called [...]
Global pharma and data firms have had access to NHS patient data for years, analysis finds July 23, 2021 More than 40 pharmaceutical, consultancy and data companies worldwide have access to UK hospital data and medical records, according to new analysis. The detailed medical records – many from the NHS – date back years, the Financial Times first reported. Some companies with access to the records are co-founded by the Sackler family, who have [...]
Covid: Government borrowing falls in June July 21, 2021 Government borrowing fell over the last month as the UK economy rapidly rebounds from the damage inflicted on it by Covid, new figures released today show. The government borrowed £22.8bn last month, the second-highest figure for June since records began, according to the Office for National Statistics. However, borrowing eased from May, down from £24.3bn [...]