Tuesday newspaper round-up: FCA, bookies, BDO
Britain’s financial sector watchdog is “incompetent at best, dishonest at worst”, according to a damning report by MPs and Lords which called for a big shake-up. An examination of the Financial Conduct Authority, which took almost three years and collected evidence from 175 fraud victims, whistleblowers and the regulator’s former staff, found “there are very significant shortcomings to the FCA”. – Guardian
Casinos and bookmakers in Great Britain will be forced to pay a £100m-a-year levy to fund research, education and treatment of gambling harms, under government plans to be announced as soon as this week. Labour is understood to be poised to rubber-stamp the previous government’s proposal to do away with a voluntary system that allows industry operators to choose how much to donate to tackle damage caused by gambling and which organisations should receive the money. – Guardian
A giant oil discovery in the Falkland Islands is even bigger than originally thought, it has emerged. An independent report into the North Falkland Basin has upgraded estimates of recoverable oil resources from 791m barrels to 917m – twice the annual output of the entire North Sea. Rockhopper Exploration, the company planning to drill in the field, said it planned to extract 532m barrels, up from a previous estimate of 312m. Most of the remainder could be recovered under further plans. – Telegraph
Partners at BDO have been given a 12 per cent pay rise after a record year for Britain’s fifth-largest audit firm, despite the industry regulator’s scathing review of its work. For the first time, BDO’s annual revenue surpassed £1 billion having turned over £1.02 billion in the 12 months to the end of June, almost 9 per cent more than the £935 million it posted in its previous financial year. – The Times
Lord Sugar’s commercial property business, which he runs with his two sons, swung back to a profit last year as the valuation of its portfolio began to stabilise in line with the wider market. The value of Amshold Limited’s buildings, which includes a Premier Inn hotel in Brentwood, Essex, and an Iceland supermarket in Leyton, east London, slipped a further £1.2 million between July 2023 and June this year to £85.7 million. – The Times