WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 4, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES EU TO PUSH QUOTA FOR WOMEN DIRECTORS The EU’s executive is to press ahead with plans for quotas to increase the proportion of women on corporate boards, triggering a protracted fight between Brussels and national governments. Viviane Reding, justice commissioner, will announce the first step towards European-level legislation, a year after she threatened [...]
Solvency II to hit wider economy March 4, 2012 Insurance industry regulations Solvency II will damage the pensions industry and wider economy, KPMG warned today. Increased capital requirements could make the return on annuities fall to an unacceptable level, making the business uneconomical for insurers. The economy may suffer as insurers move investments away from areas like infrastructure, KPMG said.
Audit watchdog to cut fees after making savings March 4, 2012 THE spending watchdog for England’s local authorities has said today it will cut audit fees by 40 per cent. The Audit Commission, which will be abolished this year, said outsourcing and internal cost-savings meant audit fees for most local public bodies will fall by £250m over five years. The savings will come in part from [...]
BACK IN THE SADDLE FOR PROPERTY’S EPIC CYCLE March 4, 2012 AS MEMBERS of the property world flock into Cannes today for a week of networking at the industry’s MIPIM conference, 86 of their peers are taking a slower route through the French countryside by taking part in the six-day Aedas Cycle to Cannes charity ride. Executives from firms including Land Securities, Capital and Counties, and [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 4, 2012 Grosvenor Group Michael McLintock has been appointed as a non-executive director of the privately-owned international property group, effective immediately. Chief executive of M&G since 1997, five years after joining the investment firm, McLintock oversaw the sale of M&G to Prudential in 1999 and joined the latter’s board the following year. Already a trustee of the [...]
London firms call on new Mayor to invest in the city February 29, 2012 LONDON First, a business group whose members represent over a quarter of the capital’s GDP, have set out their demands for the mayoral election. The organisation, which includes such firms as KPMG, HSBC and Deloitte, have told the mayoral candidates of their “common sense” demands to improve infrastructure and keep the city open for business. [...]
Last three tussle for top KPMG job February 29, 2012 CORPORATE financier Simon Collins has emerged as one of the three short-listed candidates to become chairman elect at KPMG, the auditing and consulting group. Collins, who is the firm’s global head of transactions and restructuring, joined KPMG from the investment bank Warburg. He is said to be outgoing, part of one of the better performing [...]
KPMG axes bonuses for trainees February 23, 2012 BIG Four accountancy giant KPMG has axed the £1,000 bonus it usually pays the majority of its second-year audit trainees, City A.M. has learned, in a move that will save the firm around £400,000. In a sign of significant challenges at the firm’s all-important audit division, KPMG emailed the trainees earlier this week to inform [...]
KPMG trainees furious after audit arm axes £1,000 bonus February 23, 2012 TRAINEES at KPMG were “furious” when they learned the Big Four accountancy giant would not be paying them the £1,000 bonus it usually gives to its highest performers. Adrian Stone, chief operating officer of the audit practice, broke the bad news to trainees via email at 4.15pm on Wednesday afternoon. The subject header read “First [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 23, 2012 Deloitte Mike Sobers has been appointed as a partner to Deloitte’s enterprise risk service practice, a 1,000-strong team of professionals in the UK dedicated to helping businesses solve complex risk and control issues. Sobers joins Deloitte from Aviva, where he was the audit director with global responsibility for technology and project audit. During this time, [...]