The big takeaway: How City Pantry is stirring up the catering industry January 7, 2019 London's food revolution has happened remarkably quickly. In a matter of years, the city has opened up to a world of cuisine, and is now home to more street food vendors than you can shake a crab stick at. Take sushi shops: almost unheard of in London 20 years ago (many Brits grimaced at the thought [...]
Watchdog plans for audit sector shake-up set to draw backlash from businesses January 6, 2019 Finance bosses at some of Britain’s largest FTSE companies are set to hit out at new proposals put forward by the UK’s competition regulator, it emerged this evening. Plans by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to make publicly listed firms appoint two sets of auditors are expected to receive a harsh backlash from a [...]
Report into audit sector commissioned by John McDonnell calls for break-up of Big Four December 14, 2018 A report into the audit sector commissioned by shadow chancellor John McDonnell has called for the break-up of the Big Four audit firms. The report, published today, recommended that the audit business of accounting firms must be legally separate from everything else and says it should be a criminal offence for auditors to perform non-audit [...]
Mark Kleinman: Come in Houston, just as UK audit reforms bite December 14, 2018 Talk about a hospital pass. Richard Houston, Deloitte’s consulting chief, might be forgiven for feeling a bit like Theresa May this week. Houston’s is the solitary name on a ballot open to partners at the Big Four accountancy firm’s UK operation as it seeks to elect a successor to David Sproul, its chief executive for [...]
Competition and Markets Authority to recommend market share cap for Big Four audit firms December 13, 2018 The UK's top four audit firms are facing a market share cap to encourage competition from smaller companies as the sector comes under increased scrutiny following a number of high profile corporate collapses. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is expected to recommend a limit on the number of large listed companies that the so-called Big [...]
South Korea launches raid on Samsung subsidiary amid fraud probe December 13, 2018 South Korean prosecutors investigating alleged accounting fraud yesterday raided the offices of Samsung’s biopharma unit and its two auditors, KPMG and Deloitte. The Financial Services Commission, which last month suspended trading in Samsung Biologics shares, claims the company intentionally breached accounting rules before listing in 2016. Biologics, which denies wrongdoing, said today that investigators had [...]
The next generation of City high-flyers are turning their backs on university December 13, 2018 When the alarm clock goes off and 19-year-old Luke Johnson has to get out of bed, shower, and put on a suit, ready to catch his train into the City, he may think wistfully for a moment of his friends from school who are still snoring away at university. “I did have a great offer [...]
EY and PwC reveal that both dismissed five partners over inappropriate behaviour December 11, 2018 The final two Big Four financial services firms have disclosed the number of partners that have left the companies following allegations of inappropriate behaviour. PwC fired five partners for inappropriate behaviour including harassment or bullying over the last three years. EY revealed that five partners had left the company over a four year period, becoming [...]
The future of corporate training lies in virtual reality December 11, 2018 Virtual training is being hailed as the “new Powerpoint” for corporates when it comes to training up staff. And as virtual reality (VR) continues to rise in popularity across the social community, it is no surprise that organisations are looking to embrace this immersive technology as a replacement for existing, more traditional methods. No more [...]
Seven KPMG partners left the firm over inappropriate behaviour including bullying and sexual harassment within four-year period December 10, 2018 A total of seven KPMG partners have left the financial services firm over the last four years following accusations of inappropriate behaviour, including sexual harassment and bullying. The revelation comes after it was reported that fellow ‘Big Four’ firm Deloitte fired 20 partners for similar behaviour over the same period and as workplace culture faces [...]