Ban EY from public contract bids following professional misconduct, urges charity November 17, 2020 The government should consider banning big four auditor EY from bidding on public contracts for three years following a number of recent scandals, charity Spotlight on Corruption has said. The charity has written a 17-page letter to government that accuses EY of “grave professional misconduct” that “renders its integrity questionable”, and suggests there should be [...]
Auditor independence rules prompt PwC to sell data software to private equity house November 16, 2020 Big four auditor PwC has sold its in-house data capture software to private equity house Souter Investments as auditor independent rules mean the firm cannot effectively grow the business. The software enables PwC to digitalise and search large volumes of complex legal derivative contracts for clients. It takes contracts from clients and converts them into [...]
Caffe Nero seeks rescue deal due to second coronavirus lockdown November 13, 2020 Caffe Nero has launched a restructuring plan to reduce costs due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the coffee chain’s branches in city centre and transport hub locations. The high street cafe chain has appointed KPMG to advise on a Company Voluntary Arrangement following the introduction of a second coronavirus lockdown. City A.M. [...]
Carillion ‘recklessly’ misled markets before collapse, says UK watchdog November 13, 2020 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today announced that it intends to take further action against failed outsourcer Carillion for “misleading” shareholders with false information. In a warning notice published today the watchdog said that a number of senior executives were “knowingly concerned” in numerous breaches of market rules, and had acted “recklessly”. These include [...]
Snakes and Ladders: Who is moving jobs in the City this week? November 11, 2020 Snakes and Ladders provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Firms are continuing to adapt to the challenges and opportunities presented by the pandemic as they vie to be in prime position to recover from the economic fallout of the crisis. Read more: Snakes [...]
KPMG to sell restructuring arm to win more work November 9, 2020 Audit giant KPMG is to sell its restructuring arm because conflicts of interest and regulatory scrutiny are preventing it from winning work. In an email to colleagues KPMG UK chairman and senior partner Bill Michael said that concerns relating to conflicts of interest arising from its existing work was likely to “limit the restructuring clients [...]
Lockdown expected to delay client results and accounts, KPMG says November 6, 2020 The current national lockdown across England is expected to delay the announcement of results and accounts of clients, KPMG UK has said. The Big Four firm told City AM it is expecting and preparing to delay the announcement of results and accounts of some of the entities it audits. England entered a second national lockdown [...]
Deloitte fined for pension scheme audit failures November 6, 2020 Big Four firm Deloitte has been fined £362,500 for failures relating to the audit of a former client’s defined benefit (DB) pension scheme and the carrying value of the company’s intangible assets. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) described the former client as one of the largest local and regional multimedia organisations in the UK responsible [...]
PwC buys mindfulness app for all staff amid coronavirus crisis November 6, 2020 Audit giant PwC has bought a 12 month subscription to a mindfulness app for all 22,000 staff across the UK business. City AM understands the chosen app is ‘Headspace’, a mobile app that aims to help users feel less stressed through a combination of meditation, mindfulness and better sleep. In a note to all partners [...]
Coronavirus pressure drives down number of permanent jobs November 5, 2020 The number of permanent staff appointments fell in October as rising Covid-19 cases weighed heavily on recruitment plans, with jobs in retail, hotels and catering hit particularly hard. Greater uncertainty drove a marked rise in temporary placements, according to the latest KMPG and REC report on jobs, and overall demand for staff fell. Widespread reports [...]