Ping An chairman makes first public call for break up of HSBC November 5, 2022 The chairman of HSBC’s largest shareholder Ping An has said the Chinese insurer would support plans to spin off HSBC’s Asian business in warning the bank’s global business mode is “no long competitive”. Ping An Asset Management chairman Huang Yong warned HSBC is lagging behind its peers, as he called on the bank to “reallocate [...]
US law firms get their money’s worth by working lawyers almost 14 hours a day November 5, 2022 London trainee lawyers at top US law firms are working nearly 14 hours a day, new research shows. Junior and trainee lawyers at Chicago headquartered firm Kirkland & Ellis work the longest hours, in starting at 9:19am and clocking off at 11:11pm, research from Legal Cheek shows. The rankings show all ten of the law [...]
UK’s new government should simply ‘get on’ with audit reform, letter to Rishi Sunak says November 4, 2022 The UK’s new government should simply “get on” with plans to overhaul the audit sector, to ensure the long-term stability and resilience of Britain’s economy, the head of one of the country’s largest accountancy sector trade bodies has said. In three separate letters to prime minister Rishi Sunak, business secretary Grant Shapps and chancellor [...]
Exclusive: Former Ince boss Adrian Biles acquires Child & Child November 3, 2022 Adrian Biles, the former boss of law firm Ince, has acquired Child & Child after just two months on the sidelines. Biles took the reins of the Belgravia firm yesterday afternoon, hosting a town hall meeting with staff this morning. It marks a swift comeback to the business world for the man who built Gordon [...]
British companies are failing to keep up with criminals, in-house lawyers warn November 3, 2022 In-house lawyers working in major British companies are becoming increasingly concerned that the firms they work for are failing to keep up with the methods being used by criminals to carry out financial crime. More than two-thirds of in-house lawyers surveyed by law firm Ashurst said they have concerns about their companies’ abilities to keep [...]
Glencore told to pay £281m over international bribery scandal November 3, 2022 A London judge today told a UK subsidiary of Glencore to pay a total sum of £281m over an international bribery scandal that saw its staff pay almost $29m (£25.6m) in bribes to officials in Africa. At a sentencing hearing today, Judge Peter Fraser said a “culture” of bribery was “endemic” within Glencore’s West Africa [...]
Glencore execs used private jets to fly cash bribes to Africa, court hears November 2, 2022 Glencore executives used private jets to fly millions of dollars in bribes to officials in Africa to boost their oil trading activities, a London Court heard today. Traders on Glencore’s London-based West Africa trading desk organised to have bribes, which were withdrawn from the commodity trader’s offices in Switzerland, flown to officials in Cameroon and [...]
Court blocks ‘Essex boys’ traders’ bid to overturn City watchdog’s decision November 2, 2022 A group of oil traders, dubbed the “Essex boys,” who made $700m (£614m) from the collapse in oil prices that saw crude trade negatively at the start of Covid-19, have failed in their bid to overturn a decision by the UK’s financial watchdog to assist US authorities. Traders linked to oil brokerage Vega Capital London [...]
Smaller than expected hit from Hurricane Ian sees Hiscox weather storm November 2, 2022 Anglo-Bermudan insurance company Hiscox today said it had “performed well” in the previous quarter’s complex trading environment after taking a smaller than expected hit from Hurricane Ian. Hiscox said it expects to lose $135m (£117m) as a result of the Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in Florida this September – a sum “well within” [...]
UK’s court system must adapt to digital age in the interests of open justice, MPs say November 1, 2022 The UK’s court system must adapt to the new digital age to ensure the British public have access to reliable, high-quality information, MPs have said. In a new report, the House of Commons Justice Committee calls for court documents to be made available for free, as it argues the decline of court reporting could cause [...]
