Out for justice: Britain must fight for its status as a global legal hub May 8, 2019 The UK legal sector is in rude health. There are almost 10,000 private practice firms across the country, and over 200 foreign law firms with offices in London. Together, they support a total of 342,000 jobs and make a sizeable contribution to the UK’s trade surplus of around £4.4bn. But as we kick off London [...]
KPMG stung with £5m fine for Co-op Bank audit failures as breakup talks roll on May 8, 2019 KPMG has been hit with a £5m fine for misconduct relating to an audit of Co-op Bank. Audit partner Andrew Walker was also fined £125,000, with both “severely reprimanded” by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). Read more: Watchdog slaps KPMG with £6m fine over insurance audit The Big Four audit giant and Walker admitted their [...]
London’s commercial courts hear record number of cases despite competition from overseas rivals May 7, 2019 London’s commercial courts heard a record 258 cases in 2018-19, up 63 per cent on the previous year. There was also a 54 per cent increase in the number of litigants using the courts in the year to March, with litigants coming from 78 countries, a report published today by Portland Communications shows. Read more: [...]
Maurice Turnor Gardner’s senior partner on a decade in the City, John McDonnell and being Allen & Overy’s first female partner May 6, 2019 Lawyer to the super rich Clare Maurice has a disarmingly simple view of the world. “Life doesn’t change really, people are born, get married, make money and die,” she says. The senior partner of private wealth boutique Maurice Turnor Gardner is reflecting on the ten years since she led a breakaway from Allen & Overy [...]
HMRC forced to delete 5m voice recordings after breaching privacy rules May 3, 2019 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has been forced into deleting the voice records of five million taxpayers after it was revealed that they were collected without proper consent and in breach of privacy rules. The government body had signed people up to its voice ID system for telephone enquiries in a bid to speed up [...]
DEBATE: Should the UK’s judicial system embrace using artificial intelligence in the courtroom? April 30, 2019 Should the UK’s judicial system embrace using artificial intelligence in the courtroom? Emily Foges, chief executive of Luminance, says YES. The explosion of digital information, from social media posts to WhatsApp messages, can lead to cases collapsing in our courts as police and barristers struggle to review evidence in time. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is [...]
Watchdog slaps KPMG with £6m fine over insurance audit April 30, 2019 A financial watchdog has stung KPMG with a £6m fine and “severely reprimanded” the auditor after finding fault with how an insurance audit was conducted. Read more: KPMG examining audit spin-off in wake of damning report from MPs KPMG must also carry out an internal review following the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) findings, which relate [...]
Exclusive: Lawyers who took on Lloyds and Tesco launch new funder-backed firm April 29, 2019 A group of lawyers who are taking on Lloyds Banking Group and Tesco in multi-million pound group actions have launched a new firm backed by a heavyweight litigation funder. The new firm – Harcus Parker – is a breakaway from London firm Harcus Sinclair led by its head of litigation Damon Parker. The firm has [...]
Financial investment fraud cases jumped 74 per cent in 2018 April 29, 2019 Reported fraud cases related to financial investments rose 74 per cent to 6,890 last year, up from 3,950 in 2017. The most commonly reported cases were related to share and bond sales which saw an increase to 860 last year, up from 200 in 2017, and pyramid or Ponzi schemes, which saw an increase to [...]
Big Four could force judicial review into competition watchdog audit reforms April 28, 2019 Several of the Big Four accountancy firms could attempt to force a judicial review of the competition regulator’s proposals to shake up the sector. Earlier this month the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) called for the introduction of joint audits, meaning companies would have to appoint one of PwC, EY, Deloitte or KPMG, alongside a so-called [...]