PwC buys up Australia’s biggest tax advisor Greenwoods February 28, 2022 PwC has acquired Australia’s largest tax advisory firm, Greenwoods, as part of a deal which will see 15 Greenwoods partners and 50 Greenwoods staff join the Big Four accountancy firm. PwC said it had acquired specialist tax advisory firm Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills, an affiliate of Silver Circle law firm Herbert Smith Freehills. The [...]
UK government to set out plans for audit watchdog overhaul imminently after years of delays February 14, 2022 UK government ministers will set out their plans to reform regulation of the UK’s auditing industry within the coming weeks, after calls for an overhaul first emerged in 2018 in response to the collapse of UK construction contractor Carillion. The proposals are currently being circulated and are set to be signed off imminently, according to [...]
UK government appoints four new directors to FRC in shakeup of audit regulator February 8, 2022 The UK government has put four new directors on the board of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), amid a shakeup of the UK’s audit regulator. The appointments come after former Rio Tinto chairman Sir Jan du Plessis – the government’s pick to head the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) – said the watchdog is in a [...]
UK accounting watchdog probes PwC over Kier and Galliford Try audits February 7, 2022 The UK’s accounting watchdog is investigating PwC’s audits of two of Britain’s biggest construction companies. Big Four accountancy firm PwC is being investigated by the UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) over its audits of construction giants, Kier and Galliford Try, according to The Financial Times. The FRC’s probe into PwC’s audit of Galliford Try comes [...]
Audit watchdog is ‘in poor state’, says FRC candidate for chair: ‘This is really not the way to run a regulator’ January 25, 2022 Sir Jan du Plessis, the government’s preferred candidate to head the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), has said the independent regulator is now in a “pretty poor state” due to the failures of its top level managers. Du Plessis, who has previously chaired some of Britain’s major companies including BT and Lloyds TSB, vowed to “address [...]
PwC names veteran partner as new head of private equity division January 20, 2022 PwC has named veteran PwC partner Hugh Lloyd Ellis as the new leader of its Private Equity business. Ellis, who has worked at PwC for the more than 15 years, graduated with a degree in maths and economics from UCL in 2003 before joining London-based accountancy firm Kingston Smith W1 the same year. Between 2013 [...]
JP Morgan looking to poach Big Four accountants after relaunching recruitment scheme January 14, 2022 JP Morgan has relaunched a scheme to poach newly qualified accountants from Big Four firms, in a sign that demand for junior bankers will remain high throughout 2022. The investment bank last week reoponed its recruitment scheme through which newly qualified accountants working in Big Four accountancy firm can become analysts within JP Morgan’s investment [...]
Deloitte faces lawsuit by former employee over harassment claims December 29, 2021 An ex-Deloitte female has sued the Big Four firm over allegations that her former employer did not protect her from harassment perpetrated by a male partner and its investigation into the incident was corrupt, according to reports. In court documents seen by the Financial Times, which first reported the news, Katrina Jones called the behaviour [...]
KPMG halts referrals to its former restructuring unit in bid to recover from Silentnight scandal December 20, 2021 KPMG will no longer refer any work to its former insolvency unit, Interpath Advisory, in a bid to mend its reputation after the scandal over the sale of bed manufacturer Silentnight to a private equity firm, according to reports. The Big Four firm was fined £13m by the UK accounting watchdog earlier this year for [...]
Challenger accounting firm DSW shares rise 15 per cent in AIM debut December 16, 2021 Shares in DSW Capital rose 15 per cent today, following the professional services company’s debut on London AIM, marking a warm welcome to the market for the ‘Big Four’ challenger firm. After raising £5m in its initial public offering (IPO), DSW achieved a market capitalisation of £21.4m, based on a share price of 100p. Shares [...]