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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Clyde & Co faces fine after admitting to anti-money laundering failures

January 9, 2024

London law firm Clyde & Co looks set to pay a hefty fine after it admitted today that it failed to comply with anti-money laundering regulations.
Mishcon de Reya enters alternative legal services market with acquisition

January 9, 2024

The firm has acquired flexible legal resourcing business Flex Legal, which was launched in 2016 in order to connect talent with the UK’s best legal teams.
Financial Reporting Council fines against auditors nearly doubled in two years

January 8, 2024

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) levied record-level fines against auditors after it promised to become more "forceful”.
English lawyers in Europe still face huge challenges after Brexit, legal chief warns

January 8, 2024

English lawyers working in Europe continue to face a host of issues following the UK’s exit from the European Union, the president of Law Society of England and Wales has said, warning it could impact the appeal of working with English Law.
Booming demand for London’s legal market drives record number of City partner moves in 2023

January 8, 2024

Law firms’ partner CVs were flying around the City in 2023, as the year saw the highest number of job moves ever recorded. According to data provided by legal recruiter, Edwards Gibson, there were 510 partner moves recorded over 2023. This figure is up six per cent on the 480 partner moves recorded over 2022, and [...]
Storm Henk will spike insurance claims this time, but extreme weather events require longer-term thinking

January 5, 2024

Storm Henk will undoubtedly cause a spike in insurance claims, but response to rising extreme weather events require a new approach going forward, experts have warned. The storm that battled the UK this week has caused flooding, damaged property and delays to travel as a result of rain and winds up to 80mph. This will [...]
Accountancy watchdog called on to raise threshold for enforcement action

January 4, 2024

An accountancy chief has called on the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to raise the threshold for enforcement action against auditors. Speaking to the Financial Times, Michael Izza, chief executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales said: “Prior to 2017, if the FRC brought a case against an auditor, the threshold test that [...]
FRC opens probe into a member over the bankrupted Thurrock Council

January 3, 2024

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has launched an investigation into the conduct of "a member" in relation to the bankrupted Thurrock Council's accounts.
Government needs to bring in lighter regulatory regime to fill City’s specialist insurance market gap

January 3, 2024

The UK insurance industry has urged the Government to adopt a lighter regulatory regime for captive insurance companies to fill the gap in London’s specialist insurance market.
Simmons & Simmons awarded £3m Bank of England legal contract

January 3, 2024

The law firm won the BoE's flexible legal resourcing contract late last month, with a value up to £3m running for two years until 19 December 2025.

Record number of central banks plan to increase gold holdings amid global volatility

Children as young as 14 are being targeted by unregulated gambling firms on social media

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

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

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