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UK Financial Reporting Council Fines KPMG £13.5M For Misconduct

Published

3 years ago

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KPMG

The United Kingdom Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has imposed a £13.5 million fine on KPMG LLP and its former partner David Costley-Wood for misconduct and the failure of the advisory firm to act solely in its client’s interests, in a long-running case relating to the sale of the bedmaker Silentnight to a private equity group in 2011.

The tribunal determined that one of KPMG’s partners helped push Silentnight, which was a client of the blue-chip accounting firm, towards insolvency so that the private equity group HIG could buy the business out of administration and dump the costly defined pension scheme for Silentnight’s 1,200 staff.

“The Financial Reporting Council (“FRC”) today announces sanctions against KPMG LLP (KPMG) and David Costley-Wood, formerly a partner and Head of KPMG Manchester Restructuring.

“This follows a referral from The Pensions Regulator and an investigation undertaken pursuant to the Accountancy Scheme* in relation to Mr Costley-Wood’s conduct in respect of the Silentnight group of companies in the period August 2010 to April 2011,” FRC said in a statement posted on its website.

The regulator, which also severely reprimanded KPMG said an independent Disciplinary Tribunal made findings of Misconduct against the firm.

The regulator ordered KPMG to conduct a Root Cause Review to establish: why threats to compliance with the fundamental principle of objectivity were not appropriately identified and safeguarded in the period prior to the appointment of office holders in the Silentnight matter; and in a sample of past cases, whether threats to compliance with the fundamental principle of objectivity were appropriately identified and safeguarded in the period prior to the appointment of officeholders and if not, the reasons for such failures.

Conduct a review of various policies, procedures and training programmes relating to various of KPMG’s advisory services practices in the light of the results of the Root Cause Review.

KPMG former partner, Costley-Wood was fined £500,000 and severely reprimanded while he was also excluded from membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) for a period of 13 years and precluded from holding an insolvency license for the same period.

Last month, FRC had sanctioned KPMG LLP over the quality of its banking audits, with U.K.’s industry regulator said it was “unacceptable” that for the third year running the accounting firm’s work wasn’t up to scratch.

“Overall Inspection results at KPMG did not improve and it is unacceptable that, for the third year running, the FRC found improvements were required to KPMG’s audits of banks and similar entities,” FRC said in its annual report in July.

“The scale and range of the sanctions imposed by the tribunal mark the gravity of the misconduct in this matter,” Elizabeth Barrett, the executive director of enforcement at the FRC, said. “The decision serves as an important reminder of the need for all members of the profession to act with integrity and objectivity and of the serious consequences when they fail to do so.”

The Pensions Regulator, which originally referred the case to the FRC, said it was pleased with the tribunal’s decision. “Today’s announcement highlights the important role the audit, accountancy and actuary industry plays helping to safeguard pension savers’ interests.”

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Finance

President Tinubu Orders Release of Minors Prosecuted for #BadGovernance Protests

Published

17 hours ago

on

November 5, 2024

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Following a recent viral video on the X app regarding the prosecution of minors who protested during the #BadGovernance movement, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the immediate release of all prosecuted minors.

This was announced by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, in a statement to the State House Correspondents in Abuja.

In a show of concern over the detention of minors, President Tinubu directed the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction to investigate and ensure that the law is fully applied to law enforcement agents involved in the unlawful act.

It was noted that the arrests violated human rights and the Child Rights Act, as the 32 detainees are under 18 years old.

Activist organizations, including the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), and Concerned Parents and Educators (CPE), condemned the actions and denounced the treason charges filed against the detained minors.

In a call to action, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) urged the president to instruct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, to immediately and unconditionally release all protesters arrested during the #EndBadGovernance movement.

SERAP stated, “The immediate and unconditional release of all #EndBadGovernance protesters, including 32 hungry and malnourished children, is necessary.”

According to SERAP, for the peaceful exercise of fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, assembly, and association without fear of persecution or undue restriction, all detained protesters should be released.

In response to the president’s directive, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, commented that his office “will need to review the matter to enable me to make an informed decision.”

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Banking Sector

FBN Holdings To Invest N103.1bn In Corporate, Retail Businesses

Published

1 day ago

on

November 4, 2024

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FBN Holdings

As part of means of actualizing its expectation of raising N150 billion from its existing shareholders by way of rights issue, the management of FBN Holdings said it has budgeted an estimated N103.1 billion for its corporate business and retail business lending segments of the market.

The Holdings recently held the signing ceremony to begin the rights issue offering of 5,982,548,799 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N25.00 per share to its existing shareholder on the basis of one new ordinary share for every six ordinary shares held as of October 18, 2024.

Extracts from the offer raising prospectus of the financial institution revealed that lending to the corporate business segment gets N77.34 billion, while lending to the retail business segment gets a budget of N25.78 billion.

This covers 68.95 per cent of the N150 billion proposed rights issue the management seeks to raise from existing shareholders.

Out of the N150 billion, a total of N29.46 billion was budgeted to support international business expansion and N14.73 billion for investment in automation and digital banking.

According to the financial institution, seamless and convenient banking experience for its customers would be guaranteed through its significant investment in automation and digital banking.

Through its mobile banking app, FirstMobile, and its internet banking platform, FirstOnline, the management of FBN Holdings said it has effectively acquired a broad cross-section of the target demography, with a clear proposition of owning bank accounts and utilising various financial services from the comfort of their locations.

It added that the bank plans to upgrade the FirstMobile and FirstOnline apps with additional features while driving customer adoption of the platforms, noting that the development is in line with First Bank’s commitment to providing customers with the best-in-class electronic banking experience.

The offer, however, is part of the company’s plan to recapitalise its commercial banking subsidiary, First Bank of Nigeria Limited,  with a view to increasing the bank’s capacity for business development and growth.

Chairman, FBN Holdings, Olufemi Otedola in a statement from the document urged shareholders to support the Rights issue by accepting their rights, stating that the company will be well positioned to achieve its strategic objectives and to deliver improved returns to all stakeholders.

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Finance

Currency Outside Banks Increases By 66.2% As Nigerians Shun Formal Banking Channels

Published

4 days ago

on

November 2, 2024

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New Naira notes

A recent data has revealed that currency outside banks increased by 66.2 percent in September 2024.

To this end, money outside traditional banking channels rose to N4.02 trillion compared to N2.42 trillion reported in September 2023.

This represents an increase of N1.60 trillion in just one year.

This was revealed in the Money and Credit Statistics data of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

According to the data, on a month-on-month basis, currency outside banks grew by 3.8 percent in September 2024 from August’s figure of N3.87 trillion, translating to an increase of N147.9 billion.

The trend suggests a growing inclination among the public to retain cash outside formal banking channels, a shift that could impact banks’ liquidity and shape monetary policy dynamics.

The CBN data further shows that a considerable proportion of Nigeria’s currency is held outside the banking system.

In September 2024, approximately 93.1 percent of currency in circulation was outside banks, a rise from 87.5 percent recorded in September 2023.

This shift may reflect limited trust in banking services, inflationary pressures, or a structural dependence on cash in Nigeria’s largely informal economy.

Such a high percentage of currency outside banks poses potential challenges for channelling funds into productive investments, potentially hindering economic growth.

The CBN report also highlights a parallel rise in overall currency in circulation, which encompasses both bank-held and outside cash.

In September 2024, currency in circulation rose beyond 56.1 percent year-on-year to reach N4.31trn, up from N2.76trn in September 2023, reflecting an increase of N1.55trn.

This indicates that the volume of currency retained outside the banking sector outpaced the total released for circulation within the past year.

Compared to August 2024, currency in circulation rose by 4.0 percent month-on-month, adding N166.2bn from the previous figure of N4.14trn.

Earlier in September, the CBN announced plans to sanction banks that fail to dispense cash through their automated teller machines, as part of efforts to improve cash availability in circulation.

The CBN also revealed plans to release an additional N1.4 trillion into circulation over the next three months to ease cash flow within the banking system.

This strategy aims to ensure that ATMs and bank branches have sufficient cash, addressing ongoing challenges faced by customers over cash shortages.

In related developments, it was observed that Nigeria’s money supply grew significantly by 62.8 percent year-on-year in September 2024, despite the Monetary Policy Committee’s tightening stance intended to manage excess liquidity to control inflation.

According to CBN data, M3 reached N108.95 trillion in September 2024, up from N66.94 trillion in the same period last year.

On a month-on-month basis, money supply rose by 1.6 percent, increasing from N107.19trn in August 2024.

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