Capitalists: the real revolutionaries October 17, 2011 ONCE again, Apple, the world’s most successful company, has pulled it off: it has sold 1m of its latest iPhone in its first 24 hours, smashing all the records. But this statistic should be of interest to more than tech geeks: it says a lot about how fast economies can evolve, especially in times of [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 28, 2011 Kleinwort Benson Mouhammed Choukeir has been appointed as chief investment officer at the private bank, effective from October. Choukeir moves from Morgan Stanley, where he was head of multi-asset class investing in the wealth management division. Prior to that, he was a fixed income and foreign exchange portfolio manager with Morgan Stanley, having originally joined [...]
Corporate optimism is dropping sharply July 10, 2011 CORPORATE optimism in the UK has dropped at the fastest rate since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, according to a Deloitte survey of chief financial officers released this morning. Yet strong balance sheets and the availability of low-cost capital have seen risk appetite hold up at close to a three and a [...]
More shop chains winding up July 24, 2011 THE number of retail companies which plunged into administration in the second quarter of this year increased by eight per cent compared with same period last year, according to figures from Deloitte. A total of 43 were affected, with household names like Oddbins and Focus being hit by the downturn in consumer spending. Moben, Habitat [...]
Brussels wages war on big four September 26, 2011 RADICAL plans to force the UK’s biggest auditing firms to hive off their huge consultancy arms or ban them from cross-selling services to their clients have been tabled by European authorities, it emerged yesterday. The European Commission has set out new draft regulations to drastically curb the UK’s Big Four accountants Ernst & Young, PwC, [...]
Brussels wages war on big four September 26, 2011 RADICAL plans to force the UK’s biggest auditing firms to hive off their huge consultancy arms or ban them from cross-selling services to their clients have been tabled by European authorities, it emerged yesterday. The European Commission has set out new draft regulations to drastically curb the UK’s Big Four accountants Ernst & Young, PwC, [...]
Audits to be probed by Competition Commission July 29, 2011 The UK’s audit market is likely to be referred to the Competition Commission to investigate whether it blocks new companies from taking on clients among the UK’s largest companies. Auditors have come under scrutiny from the Office of Fair Trading over concerns that the Big Four – PwC, KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte – [...]
BANKING’S TOP TEAMS SEEK NEW PASTURES October 6, 2011 THE EXODUS of senior banking talent continues – and with it, some interesting tales emerge. Take Merrill Lynch’s broking star Simon Fraser, who has informed his clients Man, Meggitt and Capital One Shopping Centres he is leaving them at the end of the year for pastures new. Quite literally, in this case, as Fraser owns [...]
Deloitte sells Can of Ham site to US pension fund January 16, 2011 AN AMERICAN pension fund has bought the site of the proposed Can of Ham building at St Mary Axe from the administrator of previous owner Targetfollow. The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) is believed to have paid Deloitte £20m for the plot. Targetfollow, whose development arm fell into administration [...]
Auditors told to stand up to banks July 25, 2011 Britain’s company auditors should question management more closely about how their revenue forecasts stand up against a backdrop of poor economic conditions and weak markets, the industry’s watchdog said today. Auditors are facing pressure to be more assertive with banks in particular after many gave lenders a clean bill of health in the run up [...]