Wirecard shares continue to nosedive as boss claims it is victim of ‘considerable fraud’ June 19, 2020 Shares in Wirecard continued to plummet today as its chief executive said it may be the victim of “considerable fraud” after auditors yesterday found a cash hole of almost €2bn in the company’s financial accounts. In-house auditor EY yesterday refused to sign off the German payments firm’s annual accounts, saying it could not confirm the [...]
Wirecard shares plummet as firm admits €1.9bn of cash is missing June 18, 2020 Wirecard shares plummeted more than 66 per cent this morning after the payments group announced its auditor could not confirm the existence of €1.9bn (£1.71bn) in cash. The German firm today said there were indications that a trustee of Wirecard bank accounts had tried to “deceive the auditor and create a wrong perception of the [...]
Wirecard short sellers make ‘a fortune’ as shares nosedive on missing €1.9bn June 18, 2020 Wirecard short sellers hit the jackpot today as shares in the German fintech plummeted following reports of a €1.9bn (£1.7bn) accounting black hole. Short sellers have piled bets against the payments firm, which offers customers electronic payment transaction services and risk management, amid mounting questions over its accounting accuracy. Wirecard’s announcement this morning that auditor [...]
Crypto AM turns two years old today – One week, four anniversaries! June 18, 2020 Two years ago on the 18th June the first edition of Crypto AM was published in London’s City AM newspaper as a double page spread. With Crypto AM as a weekly feature, City AM became the only mainstream publisher to do this, thus providing an educational voice for the industry to share knowledge with the [...]
Former FRC chairman Simon Dingemans joins Carlyle June 15, 2020 The former chairman of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) who stepped down last month has taken a new role at private equity firm Carlyle. Simon Dingemans, who left the accounting watchdog in May, will join Carlyle as a managing director in charge of UK buyouts, first reported by the Financial Times. He will also reportedly [...]
UK economy: Five charts that show we face a long road to recovery June 13, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has plunged the UK economy into an unprecedented crisis, with GDP shrinking by a record 20.4 per cent April as lockdown measures hammered businesses. The Bank of England has warned that Britain could be heading for its deepest recession in three centuries this year. It is widely believed that April will mark [...]
Coronavirus: UK economy set for ‘most severe downturn in modern times’ June 10, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has dragged the UK into the “most severe economic downturn in modern times” with the economy set to contract over seven per cent this year, new forecasts suggest. The UK economy is expected to shrink 7.2 per cent in 2020 and is unlikely to fully recover from the impact of Covid-19 until [...]
Government unveils pandemic support package for struggling tech firms June 9, 2020 International trade secretary Liz Truss will on Wednesday unveil a package of measures designed to help bolster the UK’s tech community, as businesses continue to struggle during the coronavirus pandemic. Jointly supported by the Department for International Trade (DIT) and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the measures are aimed at helping [...]
Retailers suffer ‘another month of struggle’ in May amid coronavirus lockdown June 9, 2020 Retailers endured a second consecutive monthly drop in sales in May, as the high street continued to suffer from the effects of the coronavirus lockdown. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said sales fell 5.9 per cent last month compared to May 2019. The monthly health check found record growth in online sales, as retailers continued [...]
BT auditor highlights new accounting weaknesses June 8, 2020 The external auditor of BT has highlighted “material weaknesses” within the company’s financial reporting controls, in the latest upset to its accounting credibility. In a letter to the telecoms firm KPMG noted that BT “did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of 31 March, 2020 because of… material weaknesses related to general [...]