Owner of ailing Liberty Steel in talks for £200m lifeline May 6, 2021 The owner of Liberty Steel is reportedly in talks about a £200m loan facility from California-based investment firm White Oak Global Advisors. The BBC first reported the arrangement is in its early stages, however a skeleton agreement has been drafted. Any agreement would need to be approved owner Gupta Family Group’s creditors which include Credit [...]
HMRC’s fraud hotline inundated with 91,000 calls in first nine months of pandemic May 6, 2021 HMRC’s fraud hotline received more than 91,000 calls during the first nine months of the pandemic, with concerns about furlough fraud likely to be behind many of the calls. On average 10,000 calls per month were made to HMRC’s hotline from April to December 2020, according to HMRC figures, an increase of around 1,000 calls [...]
FCA CEO: ‘We will not target EU equivalence deal at any cost’ May 6, 2021 The City regulator’s new CEO has said it will not target an EU equivalence deal for the City of London “at any cost”, although he admitted not securing a deal could see consumers offered reduced choice in some financial markets. In a speech delivered to the Association of Foreign Banks today, CEO Nikhil Rathi said [...]
FCA fines London boutique investment bank for failing to spot financial crime relating to cum-ex trading May 6, 2021 The City regulator has fined Sapien Capital £178,000 after it failed to carry out proper due diligence on a client likely participating in financial crime. Between 10 February and 10 November 2015, the boutique investment bank failed to have in place proper systems to find and mitigate the risk of being used to facilitate [...]
Gen Z question the integrity of business leaders May 6, 2021 Those aged between 18 and 25 have questioned the motives of the business world, with fewer than four in 10 believing business leaders have integrity and do what they say. Similarly, Gen Z was sceptical about businesses’ contribution to net zero, with just a quarter (26%) believing companies are contributing towards the fight against climate [...]
Raab says G7 countries will together take ‘calibrated’ approach on China May 5, 2021 G7 countries are looking for a “constructive, calibrated approach” to China, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said today, following a meeting in London. Foreign ministers from the G7 group – the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – met today ahead of the official summit that is taking place in Cornwall next [...]
KPMG staff to leave early in the summer as firm embraces hybrid working May 5, 2021 Staff at KPMG will be able to leave early one day a week during the summertime, as the Big Four firm moves to hybrid working post-pandemic. The Big Four firm has finalised its plans for flexible working in a post-pandemic world. KPMG staff will spend on average just two days a week in the office [...]
Exclusive: Chartered IIA calls on government to extend mandatory climate reporting to smaller businesses May 5, 2021 The Chartered IIA is calling on the government to further its demands on climate reporting, including widening out mandatory climate reporting to include small and medium-sized organisations. In March the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) launched a consultation to require mandatory climate disclosures from large companies. Companies that would be affected by [...]
Three-quarters of new FRC panel members being ex-Big Four causes interest concerns May 5, 2021 The majority of individuals recently recruited to the FRC’s advisory panel have at some point worked for a Big Four firm, raising concerns about their objectivity when it comes to making recommendations that are in the public interest. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) recently announced 19 new appointments to its advisory panel, a body established [...]
Hiscox sets aside $47m for freak Texas snowstorm May 5, 2021 Hiscox has reserved $47m for payouts related to storm Uri, a devastating winter storm that raged through the Southern United States in February, with much of the damage concentrated in Texas. Payouts for the insurance industry as a whole stand at around $15bn, according to Hiscox, of which it owes $47m. The deep freeze in [...]
