Here are the six (yes, six) reviews the audit sector is currently facing November 14, 2018 As 2018 continues to be the annus horribilis of audit, bean counters are finding that sector reviews are, as the saying goes, like buses. With news this week that MPs are going to launch their own super-inquiry, the sector now faces six reviews. If that seems like more than you’ve got to grips with, here’s a [...]
The pressure is on to fix the broken audit market November 14, 2018 Accountancy may be “an art, not a science”, but there needs to be less “Jackson Pollock”. That’s according to the Labour MP Rachel Reeves, chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee, who has made it her mission to fix the broken audit market. The Big Four firms (PwC, Deloitte, EY, and KPMG) are [...]
Brexit worries prompt nearly a third of consumers to cut spending November 14, 2018 Nearly a third of British consumers have cut their spending because of Brexit, scrimping on luxuries and postponing investments amid doubt over the future of the UK’s relationship with the EU bloc. A survey of 4,015 Brits, conducted by professional services firm KPMG, found 31 per cent had already cut their spending. James Stewart, KPMG [...]
City Moves for 14 November – who’s switching jobs at KPMG, Iwoca and NCP? November 14, 2018 Who’s on the move today? KPMG KPMG has hired Jennifer Cooper as International Tax Director for the firm’s growing international tax team in London. Jennifer previously worked at professional services firm EY. In recent years she was based in both the UK and Silicon Valley, specialising in helping US-headquartered multinationals understand the changing UK tax [...]
The six big ideas that could fix auditing November 13, 2018 With nearly all the major expected responses to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) probe into the audit sector released or leaked, consensus on how to fix the scandal-hit sector is scattered – and there’s no silver bullet. Here are six suggestions the CMA has been sent by auditors, industry bodies, stakeholder groups and academics [...]
Grant Thornton breaks ranks with call for independent audit appointment body, as BDO backs market caps November 13, 2018 Grant Thornton, the UK’s fifth-largest audit firm, has broken ranks with other mid-tier accountants by calling for the introduction of an independent body to appoint auditors to top listed firms. The firm told the competition watchdog that caps on market share would not work, putting it at odds with close competitors such as BDO, which [...]
City Moves for 13 November – who’s switching jobs at 23 Capital, Ayming and Howard Kennedy? November 13, 2018 Who’s switching jobs today? 23 Capital 23 Capital, a leading capital and solutions provider to the Sports, Music and Entertainment (SM&E) sectors headquartered in London, has announced the appointment of Jack MacDonald as the Head of Music and Entertainment Origination for the UK. Jack joins 23 Capital’s global team of music and entertainment specialists who [...]
Interview: Rachel Reeves drags audit into the light November 13, 2018 Rachel Reeves doesn’t fit the typical mould of a select committee chair. Where her counterparts leverage their positions of parliamentary power to try to forcibly move their party’s position (see Nicky Morgan), or to launch populist crusades to fix society’s ills (see Damian Collins), Reeves has taken a less attention-seeking approach to the chair, and [...]
MPs launch inquiry into future of ‘broken’ audit sector November 12, 2018 A powerful parliamentary committee will launch an inquiry into the “broken” audit market today, aimed at ensuring an ongoing competition probe ends the “overwhelming market domination” of the Big Four. Labour MP Rachel Reeves will announce the inquiry – by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee which she chairs – during a [...]
Deloitte calls for audit market cap and ban on selling extra services to audit clients November 8, 2018 Two of the world’s biggest accountancy firms have backed a ban on UK auditors selling extra services to their audit clients, setting the stage for a huge shift in the embattled sector. Deloitte and KPMG – two members of audit’s Big Four – have backed the move, which would potentially put hundreds of millions in fee income [...]