PwC fined £670,000 for allowing exam cheating scandal involving 1,200 employees February 28, 2022 Canadian and US regulators have hit PwC’s Canadian business with more than £670,000 in fines, for failing to prevent a widespread cheating scandal involving more than 1,200 of its employees. The US and Canadian watchdogs slammed PwC for allowing more than 1,200 employees to share answers while taking mandatory accounting exams. Canada’s audit watchdog [...]
Irish accountancy watchdogs raises concerns over Deloitte and EY audits February 28, 2022 Ireland’s audit watchdog has said flagged issues with audits carried out by Big Four accountancy firms Deloitte and EY, after carrying out its annual review of auditors. The Irish Auditing & Accountancy Supervisory Authority (IAASA) said audits completed by Deloitte and EY required improvements, after sampling six sample audits carried out by the firms. By [...]
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 [...]
Axa must pay £4.4m Covid insurance claim to high-end restauranter Corbin & King, High Court says February 25, 2022 High end restaurant business Corbin & King, which owns restaurants across London, including Colbert in Sloane Square and The Wolseley in Mayfair, has won a £4.4m case against insurance giant Axa, after the insurer refused to cover losses incurred by the restauranter during Covid-19. The case comes after Axa said it would not pay Corbin [...]
J&J and three other drug distributors settle opioid crisis lawsuits for $26bn February 25, 2022 US pharma giant Johnson & Johnson, and three of America’s largest medical distributors, have agreed to pay $26bn (£19bn) to settle more than 3,000 lawsuits over the role they played in fuelling America’s opioid crisis. New Jersey drugmaker J&J, and medicine distributors Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and Distributors McKesson, finalized a deal through which they will [...]
Facebook and Twitter tell Ukrainian users to protect themselves against hacking February 25, 2022 Social media platforms Facebook and Twitter have warned Ukrainian users they may be vulnerable to hacking, after Ukraine experienced a series of cyberattacks in the wake of Russia’s invasion. In a tweet, former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, head of global affairs and communications at Facebook owner Meta said the firm would be monitoring its [...]
UK-based Chinese companies suffered from global instability last year, new research shows February 25, 2022 Revenues generated by Chinese companies working in Britain have dropped by almost a third, due to global instability and the impacts of Covid-19, according to new research. Chinese companies employed 61,000 UK residents contributed £63bn to the British economy in 2021, according to new figures from the Tou Ying Tracker. The £63bn in revenues generated [...]
UK government seeking to give courts new powers to track down crypto assets February 25, 2022 The UK government is drawing up new rules to tackle crypto fraud, with a view to making it easier for courts to trace crypto assets. Speaking at a legal conference yesterday, Sir Geoffrey Vos, one of Britain’s most senior judges, said a sub-committee of the body that writes the rules for civil courts, is seeking [...]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group snaps up online retailer Studio after firm’s funding bid fails February 25, 2022 British retail conglomerate Frasers Group, which owns shops including House of Fraser and Evans Cycles, has acquired online and mail order shopping company Studio Retail Group, following the firm’s collapse earlier this month. Frasers Group – the firm initially set up as Sports Direct International by British retail billionaire Mike Ashley – has acquired Studio [...]
On the Beach posts promising results as travel sector recovers February 25, 2022 Package holiday retailer On the Beach said it had begun to see the first “green shoots of recovery” in the Autumn of 2021, before the recovery was spoiled by the spread of the Omicron variant. On the Beach said its sales in September and October 2021 were higher than they were before the pandemic, in [...]