The FCA is revamping itself to be more “assertive” July 29, 2021 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed changes to streamline its decision-making processes, in a bid to make it more efficient. The financial watchdog said discussions have been held about moving some decision-making responsibility from its Regulatory Decisions Committee (RDC) to its Authorisations, Supervision and Enforcement divisions instead, in an announcement today. The RDC, a committee of [...]
Pupil barristers down by almost a third in 30 years July 29, 2021 The number of pupils for the bar has declined by almost 30 per cent since 1990, according to new research published by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) this week. The number of graduates starting pupillage in 2020 was 542, representing a fall of 28 per cent from 757 in 1991, according to the regulatory body. [...]
KPMG may rebuild restructuring arm one year after selling it for over £350m July 29, 2021 KPMG is reportedly creating a new division to advise on corporate restructurings, less than a year after it sold its UK insolvency advisory business for over £350m. The big four auditor made the move as a result of new competition laws which made achieving profits from its non-auditing services harder, according to the report in [...]
US law firms in the UK raise bonuses in battle for staff July 28, 2021 UK legal companies have been forced into a bidding war for junior associates employed by top-tier US firms. Top US law firm Goodwin Procter is offering sign-on bonuses to its London staff worth up to £36,000, according to a recruiter, City PM understands. Last week Slaughter and May announced that it would increase pay for [...]
Exclusive: Sex discrimination and harassment cases in legal profession down by a third July 28, 2021 Sex discrimination and harassment complaints within the legal community dropped by a third last year. According to data from employment law firm Fox & Partners, shared with City PM this morning, the number of complaints made to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) went from 56 in 2019 to 37 in 2020. Remote working mostly contributed [...]
Staffline shares pop as recruiter’s profits set to rise despite lorry drive shortages July 28, 2021 Shares in recruiter Staffline popped nearly 10 per cent this morning after it predicted a rise in gross profits for the half year. Revenue for first half is expected to be £450.7m, up from £430.3 million for the same period last year, up 4.7 per cent. Gross profit expected to be £39m, up 14 per [...]
Trust beats punishment: Soft regulation may be more effective in sharing economy July 27, 2021 Soft and supportive regulation is more effective in creating trust and ensuring cooperative behaviour, according to new research shared with City PM this evening. Currently, most companies operating in the sharing economy tend to use forms of harsh regulations, often based on different types of penalties or punishment, a team of researchers from the Vienna [...]
Three’s a party: Isle of Wight triplets all receive first-class degree in geography July 27, 2021 Three English brothers all received their first-class degrees in geography at the University of Portsmouth today. 21-year-old triplets – Charlie, Harry and Thomas White, from Wootton Bridge, Isle of Wight – all chose to study the same subject at the same university without discussing it with each other. “One of our school teachers was a [...]
Norton Rose Fulbright technical glitch causes staff gender pronouns mix up July 27, 2021 A software error resulted in a gender pronoun mixup in emails for Norton Rose Fulbright staff. The global law firm allowed its staff in Australia earlier this month to specify what pronounce they wished to be referred to by including “he/him”, “she/her” and “they/them”. But a technical problem glitch meant those staff pronouns changed randomly. [...]
PwC sued by racing car dealer for failing to spot alleged fraud July 27, 2021 PwC has been sued by the administrators of JD Classics, a racing car dealership, for allegedly failing to to spot fraud resulting in losses of over £41m. The UK’s biggest accounting firm was accused by administrators from Alvarez & Marsal of being negligent in their handling of accounts between 2016 and 2017 according to the [...]
