EY Israel rejects break-up plan

The Big Four firm’s Israel partners will not split their audit and consulting businesses, shunning a spin-off plan approved by global leadership last month. The plan promises to dramatically reshape the accounting landscape and is being watched across the industry. EY is racing to hash out more details of the proposal ahead of country-by-country partner votes.

Turkey defends Russia ties

Finance minister Nureddin Nebati in a rare interview defended Ankara’s economic ties with Russia as “good neighbourly relations” as western governments raise concerns that the country is serving as a backdoor for Moscow to evade sanctions. Nebati said “opposition elements” were “deliberately raising question marks”, while conceding there had been a rush of cash into Turkey’s financial system.

Prepayment meters forced on the vulnerable

The number of prepayment meters is rising on a quarterly basis, as UK energy suppliers are set to switch 10,000 households a month to the expensive plan. The rise in prepayment meters is an early sign of distress in the energy market, with a majority of households pushed into using them when they fall behind on regular bill payments.

RBS plans UK commercial banking push

Royal Bank of Canada is looking to enter the UK’s commercial banking market potentially through an acquisition and to expand in wealth management, chief executive Dave McKay told the Financial Times. The head of Canada’s largest bank by market value said he was keen to expand once RBC fully integrated its private bank with Brewin Dolphin, which it bought for £1.6bn this year.

China´s wealthy activate escape plans

The country’s business elites are pulling the trigger on exit plans from their homeland as pessimism builds over the future of the world’s second-largest economy under Xi Jinping. Their advisers say the president’s ironclad grip on power and potential to rule for the rest of his life are a tipping point.

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(Source: FT, Oct. 25-2022)