Johnson: tax bankers to soften cuts October 18, 2010 ALAN Johnson yesterday unveiled Labour’s strategy for reducing the deficit, backing his predecessor’s plan to halve it within four years but arguing for higher taxes on banks to soften the blow of spending cuts. Speaking to an audience of accountants at KPMG’s headquarters, the shadow chancellor said Alistair Darling was right to plan to halve [...]
The accountant who sees EU rules as a chance to transform his firm October 18, 2010 For a man less than three months away from retirement, BDO’s policy board chairman – in effect, the firm’s international chairman – can’t wait to get into the issues. And to be fair, there is much for Dermot Mathias, who joined the accountancy giant 37 years ago, to discuss. What excites him most is the [...]
Big Four set to face the Lords October 17, 2010 THE HEADS of the Big Four auditors are likely to face an influential House of Lords committee next month, in a probe into the lack of competition in the audit market and the role the firms played in the financial crisis. Watchdogs including the Financial Services Council (FRC) have submitted papers to the Lords’ Economic [...]
KPMG doubles pace of partner promotions amid hiring drive October 14, 2010 ACCOUNTANCY firm KPMG has doubled the number of staff it has promoted to the position of partner and director since last year, as part of its strategy of growing headcount to meet rising client demand. KPMG this month appointed 37 staff to its partnership and 110 to the position of director, compared to 20 new [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 14, 2010 BlackRock Ian Winship has moved over from Brevan Howard to join BlackRock’s sterling fundamental fixed income team as a senior portfolio manager. Winship has 21 years of experience in the investment industry, including an 11-year stint at Aberdeen Asset Management as head of global rates and his most recent position at Brevan Howard as head [...]
EU proposals target radical audit revamp October 13, 2010 “BIG FOUR” accountancy firms could be forced to scale back their audit activities in the future, if a European Commission consultation on shaking up the industry finds that the scale of individual players poses a systemic risk. The EU’s internal markets commissioner Michel Barnier yesterday launched the wide-ranging consultation to examine whether the role of [...]
The City is a vital component in UK prosperity October 10, 2010 Now that we have reached the end of the 2010 Party Conference season, it is perhaps time to take a step back and reflect on some of the rhetoric directed at the City in a calm, rational manner. The hostile political environment facing financial services is – to a degree – understandable given the public [...]
Drug IT group to float October 10, 2010 A SUPPLIER of safety assessment software to drug development companies is raising £9.15million on London’s junior stock market to help it hit the acquisition trail. Instem Life Science Systems, whose customers include GlaxoSmithKline and Astrazeneca, is placing 5,228,376 shares at 175p each on AIM, giving it a market capitalisation of £20.5m. The Staffordshire-based company, whose flagship [...]
Darkening jobs outlook won’t hit recruitment firms equally October 10, 2010 DARK clouds have been gathering on the employment horizon for some time and the outlook for the UK jobs market has been getting steadily gloomier. Last week, a survey conducted by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG warned of a double-dip in the jobs market and said employment had flatlined. This week, official [...]
UK taxes near top in Europe October 5, 2010 THE UK has become the fourth most highly taxed country in the whole of Europe, a report revealed yesterday while also warning there could be an exodus of high earners from the City. KPMG’s annual individual income tax and social security rate survey showed the introduction of the 50 per cent rate of tax was [...]