Deloitte tells staff they can work from home forever June 20, 2021 Staff working at Deloitte will be able to work wherever they want when Covid restrictions are eased and work from home guidance is scrapped. Staff at the Big Four firm will not be obligated to work from the office for a minimum number of days per week, as has been a typical response of Deloitte’s [...]
PwC to hire 100,000 new staff in next five years June 15, 2021 PwC plans to go on a hiring spree in the next five years that will see it employ 100,000 more staff as part of a $12bn investment. The new hires will increase the firm’s total headcount by nearly a third to around 384,000. The new staff form part of PwC’s strategy ‘The New Equation’, announced [...]
Big Four lobbying may dilute Government’s audit reform, says ex-accounting watchdog June 14, 2021 Big Four lobbying will dilute Government's audit reform, says ex-accounting watchdog
EY to centralise power in Europe in break from typical Big Four model June 1, 2021 EY will centralise power in a new European executive team, in a move that breaks away from the typical model employed by Big Four firms. The European executive team will pool resources from across the region, the Financial Times first reported. Big Four firms typically operate a federal model, with profits and resources largely kept [...]
‘Risky’ FTSE firms could be shunned by worried auditors fearing backlash May 29, 2021 There are worries that the crushing weight of public criticism combined with record-breaking fines could see perceived ‘risky’ FTSE companies shunned by auditors. Following large-scale collapses like Carillion and Patisserie Valerie, the audit sector has faced harsh criticism, having come under both the media and government’s spotlight for failing to do their jobs properly. According [...]
Deutshe Bank mulls ditching EY as auditor following Wirecard scandal May 28, 2021 Deutshe Bank is inviting firms to compete for its 2020 audit just two years after hiring EY to replace KPMG, in a move that could see EY ditched in favour of another company. The chair of Germany’s biggest lender Paul Achleitner told shareholders that the company wants “to keep all its options open” when it [...]
Promote auditors who challenge clients says think tank May 28, 2021 Auditors who challenge clients should be celebrated and promoted, according to a new report from think tank IPPR, in order to better serve society as a whole. A complete culture change is needed within the UK’s audit industry to ensure that public trust is fully restored, the think tank said in its latest report. Without [...]
Audit watchdog admits it was not up to the job amid major company collapse May 27, 2021 The boss of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has admitted the audit regulator was asleep at the wheel following large scale business collapses that shook confidence in the sector. Sir Jon Thompson, chief executive of the FRC, said he agreed with criticism of the regulator following the collapse of Carillion and Patisserie Valerie. Speaking to [...]
Has lockdown triggered a City brain-drain? May 20, 2021 The explosion in home-working due to lockdown is shifting the focus away from a London-centric view of careers, with regional firms benefiting from a growing desire to shun the commute. Lockdown is prompting a shift away from City jobs to opportunities at smaller, regional practices with talent-hungry boutique firms stretching to match Square Mile-level salary [...]
ABI director general to take up partner role at KPMG May 19, 2021 Huw Evans, director general at the Association of British Insurers (ABI), will join KPMG as a partner next January in the Big Four firm’s insurance and long-term savings division. Evans had been director general at the ABI for more than six years, during which he represented the insurance industry through Brexit, Solvency II implementation, pension [...]