Diary January 30, 2011 LIQUIDITY INFUSIONS Famous for the harsh schedule inflicted upon its toiling delegates, this year’s party merry-go-round at Davos was no exception. Drinks and well-watered dinners kick off from 6pm, with the central Belvedere hotel boasting around a dozen venues for simultaneous drunken revelry. They then proceeded to a collection of “nightcaps” at 10pm, and usually end [...]
Downturn for Adventis Health January 27, 2011 MARKETING and advertising company Adventis yesterday reported a “very considerable downturn” in its healthcare business, Adventis Health. “A number of anticipated contracts were either deferred or failed to materialise,” it said. “The board intends to instruct KPMG to conduct an investigation into these matters and general controls,” it added. Consolidated pre-tax profits for the year [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 27, 2011 Shire Global speciality biopharmaceutical company Shire has hired Emmanuel Chantelot, former executive director of the European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises (EBE), as director of European government relations and public policy. Chantelot brings 18 years of experience in policy advocacy, strategic communications and business interest representation towards the EU Institutions, global agencies and national governments. JP Morgan John [...]
Voluntary rules for auditors January 25, 2011 GOVERNMENT minister Ed Davey told a House of Lords inquiry yesterday that moves to make the “big four” auditors less dominant in the market should be voluntary before more regulation is tried. Davey, minister for government relations, said “demand-side” measures to help mid-sized audit firms to grow should take precedence over regulation to improve competition. [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU AGREE THAT WE SHOULD USE MORE GM FOODS? January 24, 2011 MUSTAFA GHULAN LENDING & CREDIT OPERATOR “All our foods are supported by artificial ingredients to some extent. I tend to agreed with GM in developing countries, if it’s going to help supply food.” RICHARD SMITH UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA “I would be fine with eating GM foods. It’s a matter of informing people about the [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 23, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES AUDITORS SEEK TO EASE FEARS The four biggest auditors have denied that their dominance of the market for large companies had created a systemic risk akin to that posed by the leading banks. Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC have told the European Commission that they are willing to help draw up [...]
HMV in crisis talks as debt threatens bank limits January 19, 2011 TROUBLED music retailer HMV has called in KPMG for debt management advice to try to stop it breaching upcoming bank covenants. HMV, which experienced a torrid day yesterday after admitting that credit insurers had reduced their coverage of its sales amid fears of its creditworthiness, has hired the accountant to provide specialist debt advisory services, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 19, 2011 Alvarez & Marshal Alvarez & Marsal, the global professional services firm, is expanding its European real estate advisory business in Europe with the appointment of London-based directors, Patrick Anderson and Caspar Vredenbregt. Anderson and Vredenbregt both have over 12 years of experience in real estate development, investment and finance. Prior to joining A&M, Anderson was [...]
Myners: risk from big four January 18, 2011 LORD Myners yesterday told a parliamentary committee that the concentration of auditing services among the “big four” accounting firms represents a systemic risk. Appearing before the House of Lords’ Economic Affairs Committee, the former City minister said that successive mergers had led to firms not having enough alternatives to Deloitte, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG when [...]
Meggitt buys parts maker for $685m January 18, 2011 AEROSPACE engineer Meggitt is to buy Pacific Scientific Aerospace (PSA), which manufactures fire extinguishers and aircraft parts, for $685m (£431m) in cash, it said yesterday. Dorset-based Meggitt will use a 69.8m share placement, equivalent to about 10 per cent of total share capital, to raise about £255m to fund the deal. The remaining £176m will [...]