Sacked PwC accountant avoids strike-off after drunkenly groping sleeping woman on plane December 17, 2020 Ex-PwC accountant James Phipps has avoided being struck off by a disciplinary body, despite serving time in jail in the US for assaulting a sleeping woman on a plane. Phipps was on a transatlantic British Airways flight in 2018 when he groped a sleeping woman’s breasts and then threw a book at her when she [...]
PwC partners take 10 per cent cut as profits suffer December 17, 2020 Partners at PwC have suffered a 10 per cent cut to their earnings as the impact of the coronavirus hit the Big Four firm’s profits. Profits at the audit giant fell by 8 per cent to £938m in the firm’s latest financial year, as Covid-19 impacted on the business from March, with distributable profit per [...]
Lookers switches auditor from Deloitte to BDO after £19m vanishes from its books December 10, 2020 BDO will be appointed the next auditor of vehicle retailer Lookers after a difficult final year with Deloitte that saw £19m vanish from its books. Lookers had been audited by Deloitte for the previous 14 years. The Big Four firm first began auditing the business on 31 December 2006. Lookers’ ran into trouble with Deloitte [...]
High profile retailer failures will ‘once again shine spotlight on auditors’ December 3, 2020 A possible avalanche of corporate failures could once again shine the spotlight on auditors, according to Menzies partner James Hadfield. The partner said he could foresee more failures coming, and believed it likely auditors would become a talking point in the process. The high street is having a particularly tough time at the moment, with [...]
German regulator suspects EY knowingly issued ‘factually inaccurate’ Wirecard audit December 1, 2020 Germany’s audit watchdog Apas suspects EY partners knew they were issuing a “factually inaccurate” audit for Wirecard in 2017. Apas has reported EY to prosecutors after believing the big four firm may have acted criminally during its work for payments company Wirecard, which collapsed into insolvency earlier this year. According to the FT, EY audited [...]
Bah humbug! PwC staff to work an extra day this Christmas November 30, 2020 Staff at big four auditor PwC will have to work an extra day this Christmas in light of challenges brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. PwC staff are usually offered an extra day off at Christmas time, but this year the giant told staff it would not be able to offer such a perk. The [...]
To qualify or not to qualify? Auditors move to ditch risky clients November 30, 2020 Qualifying an audit could lead to unhappy clients and litigation risks, so it is safer to ditch clients instead, an expert has told CityAM, after several auditors dropped clients in October. Last month three separate auditors terminated contracts with clients in compromising circumstances. At the time the reputational risk of being associated with the [...]
Foreign direct investment in UK to slow as investor priorities shift November 30, 2020 Foreign direct investment (FDI) is set to slow over the next 12 months, as Covid-19 impacts financial services firms’ investment plans in the UK. Last year investor sentiments placed financial services as the driving force of UK growth – the sector attracted 99 projects, equating to more than a quarter of all FDI in Europe, [...]
KPMG rubbishes ‘conspiracy theory’ it helped private equity business dump Silentnight pension liabilities November 17, 2020 KPMG has refuted claims it helped US private equity firm HIG Capital force the insolvency of Silentnight so it could acquire the business without the burden of Silentnight’s £100m pension scheme. Speaking at a tribunal today Mark Phillips QC, who was representing KPMG, said the idea that the big four auditor had jeopardised Silentnight’s ability [...]
Watchdog lambasts accountants for ‘basic’ cash flow mistakes November 17, 2020 The Financial Report Council (FRC) has lambasted the accountancy industry for basic errors in cash flow statements. The watchdog said it continues to identify errors in cash flow statements, and as a result has published a review on the subject that examines many of the issues faced in their preparation, and provides information on how [...]