Oscars Best Picture screw-up: City stalwart is investigating how the award was handed to the wrong film February 27, 2017 Last night's Oscars ceremony took a surprising and extremely awkward turn when the big prize – the Best Picture award – was mistakenly handed to the wrong film. Stars Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced that La La Land had won, as was widely expected. The film's producers were midway through their acceptance speeches when Beatty interrupted [...]
Government on the hunt for lawyers who want to tackle Brexit for £48,400 February 26, 2017 The Government Legal Department is looking to hire up to 17 qualified lawyers to help it navigate Brexit, for a starting salary of £48,400. The freshly hired lawyers will be expected to work alongside the Department for International Trade (DIT) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Duties could included providing legal guidance as the [...]
Alliance Trust investors clash over proposed buyback February 26, 2017 Investment fund Alliance Trust is convening a general meeting for shareholders this Tuesday to approve its plan for a £620m buyback deal with Elliott Management, the activist investor. It proposes that the buyback will take place in five tranches to enable the American hedge fund to cash in its investment. UK private investors’ association ShareSoc [...]
Ladbrokes Coral loses £71m tax avoidance court case after long standing battle with HMRC February 25, 2017 Bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral has lost a £71m tax avoidance court battle with the taxman after using a once-legal loophole to minimise its tax bill. Ladbrokes drafted in Big Four beancounters Deloitte in 2008 to create a scheme that artificially manufactured a fall in the value of the shares of one of the group subsidiaries. This generated [...]
HMRC hits back at suggestions by Andrew Tyrie of heavy handed tactics in cracking down on tax avoidance February 25, 2017 Tax authorities have dismissed claims by the chairman of the Treasury Select Committee that it acted in a heavy handed manner, causing people "very severe financial distress". Andrew Tyrie has written to chancellor Philip Hammond to highlight concerns about the way HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) cracked down on people who had arranged their financial affairs by using tax [...]
Briton arrested in connection with a Deutsche Telekom cyber attack that hit 900,000 customers February 23, 2017 The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) has arrested a suspect at one of London's airports in connection with November's cyber attack on Deutsche Telekom. The 29-year-old Briton was arrested on Wednesday in response to a European arrest warrant. The cyber attack targeted the routers of 900,000 Deutsche Telekom customers leading to internet outages for around 4.5 per [...]
Hays boss: Londoners should look outside of the capital for signs of optimism in the UK jobs market February 22, 2017 London's workers should look beyond the capital for evidence that greenshoots are emerging in the UK jobs market after the meteoric shock of the Brexit vote, the boss of Britain's largest recruitment firm said today. FTSE 250 firm Hays' today revealed UK revenues fell by 10 per cent in the six months to December. "Immediately post the [...]
Hays’ shares fall as global operations compensate for contracting UK market February 22, 2017 Recruiter Hays' share price fell over three per cent this morning despite posting double-digit percentage growth in its half-year figures. The figures Net fees for the first six months of the firm's financial year increased by 17 per cent to £466m with operating profit increasing by 16 per cent to £100m. Figures were given a [...]
Going Dutch: Fieldfisher to launch in Amsterdam in May February 21, 2017 Fieldfisher announced today it is opening a new office in Amsterdam in May. The Dutch endeavour will be structured under a Swiss Verein model and will have five partners, all from Kennedy Van der Laan. "We've been looking at setting up an office in the Netherlands for a while," said Michael Chissick, managing partner of Fieldfisher. "We've [...]
Property Legal Q&A: I own a flat that has 87 years left to run on the lease. Should I extend the lease? February 18, 2017 A: A longer lease has the advantage of being both more mortgageable and more attractive in the market. A leasehold flat whose term has significantly reduced (say to below 50 years) is a wasting asset, and extending its lease term is essential to preserve the value. The Government in the recent Housing White Paper states [...]