Lords report to slam big four auditors March 29, 2011 AN influential House of Lords Committee is set to issue a blistering attack on the “big four” auditors today after an eight-month inquiry into the competitiveness of the audit industry. The Economic Affairs Committee, which is chaired by Conservative Lord John MacGregor, is understood to want drastic action to deal with a potential “systemic risk” [...]
Financial firms say business is back on track April 3, 2011 FINANCIAL services firms have reported business that is only slightly below normal levels for the first time since the financial crisis, a survey reveals today. However, this partly reflects lower expectations of what constitutes “normal trading”, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which conducted the survey alongside the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). New regulation threatens to burden [...]
Bonuses are on the rise as top pay stalls March 27, 2011 WARY shareholders are keeping pressure on companies to rein in executive salaries ahead of annual meetings this year, a new survey today found. Executives at FTSE 350 companies are expected to see minimal pay increases with more than a fifth of boards planning a pay freeze on top staff despite firms’ performance bouncing back strongly [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 14, 2011 Lloyds TSB Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance has appointed Gary Lapthorn as marketing and external affairs director. In his new role, Lapthorn will lead the asset-based finance division’s marketing team to help businesses access appropriate finance. Lapthorn, who has been at Lloyds Banking Group for a number of years, joins from the bank’s commercial division, where [...]
PwC first to add senior City figures to the board September 26, 2010 ACCOUNTING firm PwC is set to become the first accountancy practice to add independent directors to its board after the appointment of three senior businessmen as non-executive directors. Former Rio Tinto chairman, Paul Skinner will be joined by WM Morrison chairman Sir Ian Gibson and Cable & Wireless chairman Sir Richard Lapthorne as independent directors [...]
Banks face probe for their use of Big Four auditors March 23, 2011 THE GOVERNMENT has asked regulators to investigate whether banks help to entrench the Big Four auditing firms’ dominance through restrictive lending agreements with companies. The Budget included a call to the Office of Fair Trading to probe whether bank covenants lock out smaller auditors. The Financial Reporting Council had expressed concern to lawmakers last year [...]
BIG FOUR HIT BACK AT APPRENTICE PUT-DOWN May 12, 2011 EDWARD Hunter, the only City representative on this year’s series of The Apprentice, must be regretting his bold claim that he is “more than just an accountant”. Hunter trained at PwC in Reading before taking a job in the accountancy division of Scottish & Southern Energy, but quit his job this time last year to [...]
Rok drafts in PwC ahead of refinance talks September 15, 2010 ROK is understood to be setting up refinancing discussions with its lenders, a month after the building group issued its second profit warning of the year. A company spokesman said it was not at risk of breaching its covenants, and said the move to renegotiate its debt was an indication it was confident of meeting [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 17, 2011 Halifax Share Dealing The execution-only broker has confirmed Damian Stansfield as its new managing director. Stansfield moves from Lloyds Banking Group, where he held the position of risk director for direct channels and group marketing. In his new role, Stansfield will be responsible for the day-to-day management of Halifax Share Dealing and strategic development of [...]
China is yet to dent US in busy mining M&A market March 2, 2011 THE DOMINANCE of the US and Canada in the mining M&A market is not yet being challenged by Chinese competitors, according to figures out yesterday. Just six per cent of buyers were based in China during 2010, PwC said in a report, though the number of acquirers from Asia has jumped from less than 10 [...]