Record £14m fine for KPMG over Carillion and Regenersis audits with partner Peter Meehan banned from ICAEW July 25, 2022 The UK’s accounting watchdog has fined KPMG £14.4m and told it to pay £3.95m in costs for providing false and misleading information during its audits of Carillion and Regenersis. The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) also fined four of KPMG’s former auditors, banned them from the accounting sector’s professional membership body, and severely reprimanded another [...]
PwC ups pay for newly-qualified lawyers to £90,000 a year July 21, 2022 Big Four accounting firm PwC has upped pay for newly qualified (NQ) lawyers working in its fast-expanding UK legal business to heights of £90,000 a year. The salary hikes will see PwC match the salaries offered by top ranking law firms including London law firm Mischon de Reya, and put it ahead of major firms [...]
KPMG to rerun vote for head of UAE firm after partners raise governance concerns July 21, 2022 The head of KPMG’s business in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has said the firm will rerun the election for his position, and bring in an external law firm to oversee the process, after partners attempted a coup aimed at ousting him from the firm. The election rerun comes after two senior partners at KPMG [...]
Global split could let EY bring in extra $10bn in Silicon Valley advisory fees, firm chief says July 20, 2022 A global split could let EY bring in an extra $10bn in advisory fees from the world’s major tech companies, by freeing it from rules that block the Big Four firm from both auditing and selling advice to Silicon Valley’s largest firms, EY’s global chief executive has said. EY’s plans to separate out its audit [...]
UK accounting watchdog calls on top auditors to put in place measures to stop cheating on exams July 18, 2022 The UK’s accounting watchdog has called on the country’s major audit firms to put measures in place to prevent employees from cheating on exams. Following a series of high-profile cheating scandals in Canada, Australia and the US, the UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has told British auditors to set out their plans to prevent similar [...]
Grant Thornton slapped with multi-million pound fine after FRC calls out ‘serious failings’ in Sports Direct audit July 18, 2022 The UK’s accounting watchdog today hit Grant Thornton with a £2.05m over “serious failings” in its audits of high-street retailer Sports Direct. The fines come after the UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said Grant Thornton had failed to properly scrutinize Sports Direct’s relationship with an unnamed delivery company and the impact the relationship would have [...]
PwC set for record revenues as global chief rejects plans for split July 18, 2022 The global head of PwC has said the accounting firm is set to post record revenues of around $50bn this year, after speaking out against plans to follow in the footsteps of EY by separating out PwC’s audit and advisory businesses. In an interview with the Financial Times, PwC global chairman Bob Moritz said the [...]
UK’s audit watchdog sets out plans to shakeup Britain’s accounting sector July 12, 2022 The UK’s accountancy watchdog has vowed to put in place a raft of new measures to increase standards in the UK’s audit sector in a bid to pave the way for the UK government’s long-awaited reforms. The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) on Tuesday published a paper outlining its plans to revise existing codes, strengthen [...]
Wirecard forged client list to secure £760m investment from SoftBank July 11, 2022 German payments processer Wirecard forged client data in its efforts to secure €900m (£760m) in investment from Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, as it sought to reassure investors about the fundamentals of its business before it collapsed the following year. The Bavarian fintech firm showed SoftBank’s representatives a fabricated list of clients on a computer in Wirecard’s [...]
Professional services network Xeinadin buys up Doncaster accounting firm Smith Craven July 11, 2022 London headquartered professional services firm Xeinadin has acquired Doncaster based accountancy firm Smith Craven. Xeinadin, which was formed through coming together of more than 100 independent accountancy firms throughout the UK and Ireland in 2019, has absorbed Smith Craven into its network, after first investing in the firm earlier this year. First established in 1928, [...]