By: Maria Ward-Brennan

Professional Services Editor Maria Ward-Brennan is the Professional Services Editor at CityAM, focused on law, Big Four, and other management and accounting consulting firms. She was previously a litigation reporter at The Lawyer. Contact her via email at [email protected] or X (Twitter) @MariaW_B.

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Ex-Battersea Power Station boss takes owners to court over dismissal

March 19, 2026

The former boss of Battersea Power Station has launched legal action against the owners of the iconic London landmark after being dismissed from his role in May. A £9bn project has transformed Battersea Power Station from a disused, decommissioned site to a 42-acre estate with 2,000 homes and 60 companies in under a decade. Don O’Sullivan, formerly [...]
Lloyd’s profits surge as Tiernan charts course for ‘efficiency’ era

March 19, 2026

Lloyd’s of London has reported a pre-tax profit of £10.6bn, over a 10 per cent increase from the previous year, as its chief executive launches its new five-year strategy. Its gross written premiums climb to £57.9bn, up over 4 per cent. This was driven by volume growth as new syndicates joined the market; however, for [...]
Sun, money and missiles: The dilemma facing British lawyers in the UAE

March 19, 2026

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranks among the most popular international destinations for British lawyers, to say nothing of influencers, but has the Iranian war burst the bubble? Based on the latest reports from the Law Society and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for 2025 and early 2026, there are around 500 to 700 English [...]
AI will not replace auditors’ judgment, says regulator chief

March 19, 2026

The rise of AI presents a critical moment for the accountancy profession to prove that its “value-add” goes beyond tasks that can be automated, according to the industry’s watchdog boss. Speaking to CityAM, Richard Moriarty, chief executive of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), said that with every technological shift, the accountancy sector loses low-level [...]
Reeves broke “promises” on farmer inheritance tax reforms, court hears

March 17, 2026

Rachel Reeves “broke promises” when she failed to consult over changes to inheritance tax (IHT) reliefs in her first Autumn Budget, a court has heard. The Chancellor’s proposed changes to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) represent one of the biggest shifts in IHT policy in decades. In the 2024 Autumn Budget, [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks inch up; Gas prices surge after drone attacks

March 17, 2026

Good morning and welcome back to the CityAM liveblog. The FTSE 100 closed up 0.5 per cent yesterday, settling at 10,317.69p led by a three per cent jump in Endeavour Mining. It came as global markets were brought some reprieve from declining oil prices. The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil [...]
Brits fleeing Dubai could trigger ‘surprise’ UK tax bills

March 16, 2026

British expats returning to the UK from the Middle East over safety concerns as a result of the war in Iran could face “hidden tax costs”. The British expat population in the UAE is among the largest outside the UK, with estimates of 130,000 to 240,000 British nationals living and working in Dubai and Abu [...]
Labour’s inheritance tax reforms face legal test as farmers argue unlawful consultation

March 16, 2026

The UK government is set to defend its inheritance tax raid on agricultural assets and family firms in the High Court this week. The proposed changes to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) represent one of the biggest shifts in UK inheritance tax (IHT) policy in decades. After a year of protests [...]
Government overhauls FOS to curb ‘quasi-regulator’ role

March 16, 2026

The government has announced the most significant overhaul of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) since its inception. Following a public consultation held last year that sought views on how to address concerns, it was found that in a small but significant minority of cases, the FOS has acted as a ‘quasi-regulator’. As part of the [...]
Starmer urged to tighten law on Slapps following Mandelson scandal

March 16, 2026

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to tighten the law to prevent the powerful and wealthy from stopping stories about them, following the Lord Mandelson scandal. A dozen Labour MPs have written to the Prime Minister to ensure that strategic lawsuits against public participation, known as Slapps, is included in the King’s Speech in May. [...]

UK manufacturers facing ‘steel quota cliff edge’

2026 World Cup: England only attract half as many bets as Norway to lift trophy

Old Pulteney releases 50-year-old whisky for 200th anniversary

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

All 1608 Articles