US bank bonuses plummeting to a post-Lehman Brothers low December 9, 2012 WALL STREET’S bonus payouts are set to fall to their lowest level since 2008, US financiers warned over the weekend, as markets stay weak and transaction volumes stagnate. And New York’s bankers will be hit by a double whammy, with taxes likely to rise sharply when Bush-era allowances expire as part of the fiscal cliff [...]
Demand helps support our production December 6, 2012 BRITAIN’S car industry continues to defy those who say this country doesn’t make things any more. And demand at home is helping to drive that resurgence. Industry lobby group the SMMT released data yesterday showing the UK is now the second-largest EU car market by new registrations. Demand has risen year on year in the [...]
London’s Tech City gets £50m from Cameron December 6, 2012 DAVID CAMERON yesterday unveiled a £50m government project in east London’s “Tech City” alongside a host of new investments from the likes of Microsoft and KPMG. The Prime Minister said the money would be put towards a new showcase building on Old Street roundabout – the junction that has become an icon of the growing [...]
Who’s switching jobs December 6, 2012 Robin Simon The law firm has appointed Darren Hannison partner and head of its reinsurance practice. He joins from Plexus Law. Hannison has over 19 years’ experience in the insurance and reinsurance sector, and has also served as an assistant general counsel at AIG in New York. Deloitte Angus Wildblood has been appointed analytics partner [...]
Thumbs up for Tube plan and £1bn roadworks December 5, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT’S ambitious plans to boost the economy through large infrastructure projects got a shot in the arm yesterday, as the chancellor pledged more than £5bn in new funding. The regeneration of Battersea was one of the focal points, with George Osborne revealing that the state will backstop a £1bn loan to extend the Northern [...]
US watchdog charges audit China affiliates December 3, 2012 THE US markets watchdog yesterday hit the Chinese arms of five accounting firms with charges, after the affiliates failed to hand over audit documents the US body wants. PwC, KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte – the so-called big four – as well as BDO, have been charged with securities violations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), [...]
Retailers post weak sales rise as shoppers delay Xmas spree December 3, 2012 RETAILERS are pinning their hopes on a late Christmas boost, after a mixed November that saw consumers continue to delay parting with their pennies. Like-for-like retail sales edged up 0.4 per cent in November compared with a year earlier, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG sales monitor showed this morning. While an improvement on [...]
Ex-investment banker is Cupid for City singles December 3, 2012 LONELY City hearts searching for love this Christmas, look no further than ex-investment banker Salima Manji to play Cupid and gently tug on the heartstrings. Having worked at JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and the now-defunct Dresdner Kleinwort, Manji left the City to set up a matchmaking supper club for singles, the London Dinner Club, and [...]
Three big auditors are slapped with lawsuits over past work November 29, 2012 AUDIT firms Deloitte and KPMG are among the firms named in a US lawsuit brought by a disgruntled investor in Hewlett-Packard, though both firms distanced themselves from the troubled deal yesterday. The case, filed in California, claims the auditors missed numerous red flags about Autonomy, which HP bought last year. The tech firm has since [...]
UBS fined £30m by watchdog over £1.4bn rogue trader loss November 26, 2012 SWISS bank UBS, which last week saw former trader Kweku Adoboli jailed for a £1.4bn trading fraud, was fined £29.7m by regulators yesterday for failing to prevent the scandal. The Zurich based bank, which lost its chief executive Oswald Gruebel over the trading debacle, managed to reduce an original fine of £42.4m the Financial Services [...]