TCI files criminal complaint against Wirecard executives in Munich May 19, 2020 TCI Fund Management has today filed a criminal complaint against Wirecard executives in Munich, escalating the activist campaign against the payments group. The filing of a complaint with the Munich prosecutors piles further pressure on Wirecard’s chief executive Markus Braun, who TCI has called on to resign. TCI fund manager Sir Christopher Hohn last month [...]
Luggage brand Antler collapses into administration May 19, 2020 Luggage brand Antler has become the latest victim of the coronavirus crisis, collapsing into administration today due to the collapse in international travel. Big four auditor KPMG has been appointed as the administrator for the brand, which is over a century old. Administrators have already made 164 of the firm’s 199 staff redundant, KPMG said [...]
When will the UK economy recover from coronavirus? May 15, 2020 The UK economy is set for its worst contraction since at least the Great Depression this year as the coronavirus lockdown brings activity to a halt. There’s little doubt about that. There is doubt about what comes next, however. Economists have made huge numbers of predictions, using an array of letters to describe the recovery. [...]
Square Mile lockdown: City firms plot staff’s return to work May 14, 2020 City banks and professional services firms are drawing up plans to send staff back to the office as the UK begins to ease its coronavirus lockdown. Earlier this week Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that people who can work from home should continue to do so, as he laid out guidance to make workplaces “Covid-secure”. [...]
UK GDP shrinks: Economists warn worst yet to come as lockdown persists May 13, 2020 The UK economy shrank by a record 5.8 per cent in March, thanks almost entirely to just over a week of coronavirus lockdown that began on the 23rd. In the first quarter as a whole GDP contracted by two per cent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said today. This was its worst performance since [...]
‘We cannot afford another lockdown’: Italy’s cautious return to work May 11, 2020 Italy was the first European country to be hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and it is now one of the first beginning to ease its draconian lockdown measures to lessen the economic damage of the crisis. Last Monday the country began cautiously moving out of its tough lockdown with factories, building sites and offices [...]
UK economy: Is the Bank of England’s 2021 rebound scenario too optimistic? May 7, 2020 The Bank of England today said the UK economy could suffer its worst economic crash in 300 years this year as the coronavirus lockdown batters the economy. Yet it said it is likely to bounce back relatively quickly. Despite the dire report it stopped short of launching more bond-buying or “quantitative easing” (QE) and left [...]
Regulator calls for early interventions in poor audits to help stop scandals May 6, 2020 The audit regulator today called for accountancy firms to flag poor quality audits sooner to help prevent corporate scandals. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said tools for spotting signs of poor quality audits should be used more effectively, following a major review of their use. Last year all of the UK’s leading accounting firms failed [...]
UK tech firms suffer worst quarter since financial crisis May 1, 2020 British tech firms have posted their worst quarterly performance since the global financial crisis as the Covid-19 crisis stunts growth, new figures have revealed. Business activity across the tech sector declined for the first time in almost eight years, according to the latest KPMG UK Tech Monitor index. The headline index dropped to 47.1 from [...]
TCI calls on Wirecard to remove chief executive Markus Braun April 29, 2020 The Children’s Investment fund has called on Wirecard’s supervisory board to remove chief executive Markus Braun after a KPMG audit was unable to verify its revenue. It piles further pressure on Wirecard chairman Thomas Eichelmann after KPMG said was unable to obtain all the information it requested from the firm, such as bank statements. In [...]