PwC to face Hong Kong probe over Evergrande audit August 15, 2022 Hong Kong’s audit watchdog has launched an investigation into PwC over its audit of embattled Chinese real estate developer Evergrande. The city-state’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) today said it had opened an investigation into the Big Four accountancy firm’s audit of the heavily-indebted property firm’s 2020 results. The probe comes after PwC signed off [...]
Freshfields calls lawyers back into the office for at least three days a week August 15, 2022 Magic Circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has upped the minimum number of days it expects its lawyers to come to the office from two-and-a-half to three days a week. Lawyers working at the Magic Circle firm’s London and Manchester businesses will now be expected to work from the office for at least three [...]
Goldman Sachs slashes London office pay as dealmaking lull hits profits August 15, 2022 The world’s biggest investment banks have slashed the sums of money they spend on paying their staff, following a sharp decline in dealmaking. Goldman Sachs cut the sums of money it spends on paying staff in its in London offices by 59 per cent over the first half of 2022, the investment bank’s financial results [...]
Abrdn’s Asian Income Fund loses 6.9 per cent of value as APAC markets suffer August 15, 2022 Asset management giant Abrdn said the value of the assets controlled by its Asia Income Fund plunged 6.9 per cent over the first half of 2022 as markets were rocked by a combination of Covid lockdowns and the ripples of war in Ukraine. In its half yearly report today, the firm said net asset value [...]
Tatton Asset Management bolsters investments offering with £7m 8AM tie-up August 15, 2022 Asset manager Tatton announced it had completed its tie-up with fund manager 8AM Global for £7m today, as it looks to bolster its investment offering and capitalise on four months of steady inflows this year. London-headquartered Tatton, which manages around £11.2bn, said it had acquired a 50 per cent stake in 8AM through a deal [...]
Phoenix hikes dividend as pensions deals bolster insurer’s business August 15, 2022 Phoenix Group today upped its dividend after posting “record” financial results for the first half of 2022. The London insurer hiked its dividend by three per cent to heights of 24.8p a share after a series of pensions deals bolstered Phoenix’s revenues. The pensions deals, signed off in the first half of last year, saw [...]
Big Four accountancy firms capture larger share of UK legal market August 15, 2022 Major corporations are snubbing traditional law firms in increasingly going to consultancies and accounting firms for legal advice, according to new research from Thomson Reuters. The Big Four accounting firms – PwC, KPMG, EY, and Deloitte – are driving growth in the alternative legal services provider (ASLP) sector, as UK corporates increasingly turn to them [...]
UK’s professional services sector weathers economic headwinds August 13, 2022 The UK’s professional services sector has continued to grow its turnovers in the face of major economic headwinds, new UK government data shows. The accountancy sector’s turnovers increased 3.7 per cent, from £3.41bn in May to £3.54bn in June, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows. The country’s legal sector also saw its turnovers [...]
Abrdn snaps up stake in London crypto startup Archax August 13, 2022 Scottish asset manager Abrdn has bought a stake in the UK’s first regulated crypto trader Archax in a major vote of confidence in blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies. The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, will see Abrdn become the crypto startup’s largest external shareholder, the crypto firm said in a statement. Launched in 2018, Archax is [...]
Law Society calls for ‘sustained investment’ in courts to cut worsening case backlog August 13, 2022 The Law Society has called on the government to make “sustained investment” in the UK’s court system after new data showed the case backlog has gotten worse over the previous quarter. The backlog of cases waiting to be heard in the England and Wales Crown Courts has increased from 58,540 in April to 58,973 in [...]