Government defeated in battle over Equitable Life’s collapse

After a ruling in the High Court issued by Lord Justice Carnwarth, thousands of policy holders of Equitable Life could now receive compensation from the Government. A four part report titled "A Decade of Regulatory Failure" published in 2008 by the Ombudsman, Ann Abrahams, found " serial maladministration" and recommended compensation be reached through an independent tribunal.

Equitable Life: a decade of regulatory failure (HC 815),

FSA outlines its approval and interview process for significant influence functions

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has written to the CEOs of 5,000 regulated firms to reinforce how its intensive regulatory approach applies to approving and supervising senior personnel performing significant influence functions (SIFs).
The City regulator said that under its new approach to supervision, it would not be happy to rush approvals in a couple of days, and would expect to take part in the short-list stage for large institution appointments.

Lloyd's slashes cash for Scottish charities

Lloyds Banking Group said it was to cut its charitable foundation's funding, worth at least six million pounds a year due to the financial crisis.
Sources at the foundation said that it was inevitable some charities would be forced to withdraw key services.

Impact of Bank easing ' may never be known

Charles Bean, the deputy governor of the central bank told the London Society of Chartered Accountants that the impact on the economy of the Bank of England's multi billion pound scheme of quantitative easing will probably never be known.
He also commented on the recession, saying that the British economy has probably hit bottom, despite fears at the beginning of the year that this recession would continue to deepen.

The APB issues new ISAs (UK and Ireland)

On 13 October the Auditing Practices Board (APB) published 33 new International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) (ISAs (UK and Ireland)); A new International Standard on Quality Control (UK and Ireland) 1 (ISQC (UK and Ireland) 1); and, a revised Statement of the Scope and Authority of APB Pronouncements. These are all available on the APB website.

PwC report says £43 billion fiscal gap needs to be closed by 2015/16

A report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), "Dealing with (even more) debt", was published on 12 October. The report says that "£43 billion fiscal gap needs to be closed by 2015/16". The full text of the report is available on the PwC website.

Scotsman op-ed by ICAS' Chief Executive

There is an editorial piece in the Scotsman on 13 October 2009 by Anton Colella, the ICAS Chief Executive. It is called "Bonus review will not mean the end of risk-taking bankers".

Planned tax rules could undermine building industry, say accountants

In response to the Treasury consultation: False Self-employment in Construction,The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland says that onerous new tax rules on construction workers and those who engage them could seriously undermine an industry that has been amongst the hardest hit by the recession.

"We are astonished that these proposals have come forward during a recession, since we believe the net result of adopting them would be an increase in unemployment.This is clearly undesirable, and we recommend that the proposals be abandoned. The proposals are flawed, can easily be circumvented and are unlikely to work properly."states Derek Allen, ICAS Director of Taxation.

Tough new laws could hit Big Four services fees

Auditing Practices Board issues a Consultation Paper on audit firms providing non-audit services to listed companies that they audit. "The aim of the APB Consultation Paper is to seek views, especially from investors, on whether there is support for the Treasury Select Committee’s view that investor confidence and trust in audit would be enhanced by a prohibition on audit firms conducting non-audit work for the same company.” Richard Fleck, Chairman of APB commented.

Chairman and Chief Executive relationship 'can be too close'

A too close relationship between chairman and chief executive can be a signal for excessive risk-taking in a company, a high-powered panel of Scottish accountants warned. Guy Jubb, head of corporate governance at Standard Life Investments, told a forum on risk management staged in Edinburgh by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland that boardroom culture had changed over the past five years, particularly in the financial sector.

OFT fines recruitment agencies for a collective boycott and price fixing cartel

The OFT has imposed fines totalling £39.27 million on six recruitment agencies for price-fixing and the collective boycott of another company in the supply of candidates to the construction industry.

High-speed rail network will include Scotland

In response to Rail Magazine's comments that Scotland would not be included in proposals for a high-speed rail network, Sir David Rowlands, chairman of High Speed Two (HS2) said that Glasgow and Edinburgh were both on the list of primary destinations. He did not say who would fund the network north of the border stating that it was 'a matter for the two governments' to agree on.

IoD response to the Walker Review

On 22 September the Institute of Directors (IoD) released its response to Sir David Walker's review of corporate governance. Their response comments on each of the Review’s recommendations, and considers their applicability to the overall UK corporate governance framework.

Scotland failing entrepreneur test

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Scotland 2008 recently launched by the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Strathclyde found that Scotland's business start-up rate was the second lowest in the UK. Sir Tom Hunter stated "local authorities, now responsible for enterprise service delivery, need to step up to supporting those businesses in their area"

Construction firms fined for illegal bid-rigging

Shares in construction companies dive as builders hit with £130m fine after bid rigging scam is exposed. 103 firms were fined by the Office of Fair Trading after an investigation into bid rigging and competition distortion that drove up project costs.

LibDems economic recovery ideas

Vince Cable's speech to the Liberal Democrats conference in Bournemouth, including the plan to tax £1m-plus properties

NAPF 'quality mark' introduced

The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has launched a scheme designed to make pensions easier to understand and more attractive for employees. Marks & Spencer and Standard Life are among the first to receive the award.

BCC manifesto published

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) have launched their manifesto 'Delivering for Britain: A Business Blueprint For Opportunity, Jobs and Growth'. It has the organisations priorities for speeding up Britain's economic recovery.

Letter from Chairman of BBA on banking regulation

Stephen Green, Chairman of the British Bankers' Association (BBA), has written to Gordon Brown and other policy makers to ask that excessive regulation for banks isn't introduced at the forthcoming G20 meeting. The full text of the letter is available on the BBA website.

ICAS conference

There have been a couple of articles recently reporting on the ICAS conference held in Dunkeld last week. These include an article in the Scotsman 'Industry 'asset rich but cash poor' and in the Press & Journal 'Take action to reduce risk, farmers are told'.