Follow me on LinkedIn. Pausing posts on other social media sites for the time being. www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-f...

The law firm that represented Sam Bankman-Fried and Ghislaine Maxwell bids to become one of the first in the U.S. to take private equity investment. Scoop with @kayewiggins.ft.com www.ft.com/content/9487...

PwC has flagged the WHSmith profit overstatement to the UK’s accounting watchdog, which is now weighing whether to launch an investigation of the auditor. www.ft.com/content/acbf...

Will private equity be able to buy big US law firms, and who will be the first to sell? The boss of a top 20 law firm tells the FT: “We are constantly approached and we always listen to new ideas.” www.ft.com/content/3a9d...

There's always a rap video! Absolute must-read here on how a flashy Utah leasing firm came to be lending billions to First Brands, full of astonishing detail: www.ft.com/content/f0ae... www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfZG...

Does $56,968mn round to $56.9bn or $57.0bn? Asking for an accounting firm. www.pwc.com/gx/en/news-r...

RSM creates US-UK accounting tie-up. . . and says other firms in network can join. Story w/ @elleshevakissin. Read our exclusive interview with the CEOs below. www.ft.com/content/91ba...

BDO chief pledges to fight ‘falsehoods’ on First Brands work, says auditor may face years of scrutiny but will take ‘decisive action to protect our reputation’ www.ft.com/content/9b61...

Does the fact that Netflix shares went down 6% tonight and not on August 13, when the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled on the tax matter in dispute, imply that the company's disclosures were incomplete or not understood by investors? www.ft.com/content/3fba...

Deloitte to pay $34mn over audit work on US nuclear fiasco Former shareholders in South Carolina utility said firm failed to spot red flags and allowed management to hide mounting issues www.ft.com/content/f9fc...

The secretive First Brands founder, his $12bn debt and the future of private credit www.ft.com/content/8373...

The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) said it was pausing donations until authorities clarified the “applicable laws and rules” related to the foreign funding of US NGOs. www.ft.com/content/b87f...

EY narrows US leadership race to three candidates on.ft.com/3IVouKi

“The future of consulting is going to be a hybrid of people plus software — like, a lot of software.” Consultancies must become software companies to survive AI boom, says IBM executive www.ft.com/content/8535...

Big 4 getting a reprieve on both sides of the Atlantic, it seems. www.ft.com/content/e0ce...

Deloitte’s global revenue growth picks up despite sluggish performance in Europe www.ft.com/content/77f7...

Deloitte’s UK business just reported its first decline in annual revenue in 15 years, but partner payouts increased as the firm cut costs. www.ft.com/content/d3aa...

Grant Thornton’s private equity-backed US business has agreed to buy sister firms in France, Spain and Belgium, dealing a blow to its UK rival in their battle to consolidate the world’s seventh largest accounting network. www.ft.com/content/63fa...

“We are exiting on a compressed timeline people where reskilling, based on our experience, is not a viable path for the skills we need.” $ACN Accenture cuts workforce by 11,000, targets staff that cannot be retrained for age of AI www.ft.com/content/a74f...

BCG to train staff on ‘humanitarian principles’ after Gaza outcry www.ft.com/content/a02f...

"Make IPOs great again." And make the plaintiffs bar sweat. SEC allows public companies to block investors from class-action lawsuits. www.ft.com/content/5a41...

PwC’s Middle Eastern growth engine has stalled, according to figures just out in the UK www.ft.com/content/4846...

"Aspiration’s failure is the result of loose underwriting standards colliding with the celebrity affinity for social justice efforts, creating conditions for a financial debacle." Story by @sindap.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/ec3e...

Grant Thornton Germany picks UK over US as accounting network consolidation accelerates www.ft.com/content/4f44...

"When people talk about decline in this country, this article is what they mean." ⬆️Most recommended comment on this piece by @robarmstrong.bsky.social, in which he argues it's time to consider shorts in the office www.ft.com/content/183d...

Meanwhile, over in the UK… Traffic-light’ dashboard lets PwC monitor office attendance ft.com/content/0aa1...

Bain & Co shuts South Africa consulting business after corruption scandal www.ft.com/content/cdbd...

McKinsey bars China practice from generative AI work amid geopolitical tensions. www.ft.com/content/9907...

BREAKING: Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) chair Erica Williams is OUT. Paul Atkins, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, asked her to resign and her last day will be July 22. www.ft.com/content/8167...

The Netherlands this time. Big Four firms fined in new exam cheating scandal www.ft.com/content/aa27...

Have questions on the market, inflation or the 'Taco trade'? Unhedged's Robert Armstrong wants to hear from you. Join him on Reddit today for an 'Ask Me Anything': on.ft.com/44snQMc

Did the Senate parliamentarian just save the credit markets? She's nixed a 'big beautiful bill' measure that would have defunded the Office of Financial Research. Its data underpins SOFR, the interest rate used for $$trillions of debt. So, phew, I guess. www.ft.com/content/f577...

BCG pitched to UNRWA before helping rival Gaza aid plan www.ft.com/content/d5fe...

ABundance Agenda? Era of Bund scarcity is over, says German debt chief www.ft.com/content/9765...

Accountants and lawyers team up to fight Trump tax provision www.ft.com/content/9395...

Former McKinsey partner jailed for deleting emails on US opioid work www.ft.com/content/5e76...

Deloitte UK scoop incoming from my colleague, Ellesheva Kissin: The firm has told its UK consulting employees that it will promote fewer of them, limit their annual pay rise and cut bonuses after the business "fell materially short of its performance goals". www.ft.com/content/d323...

Really helpful explainer here by Michael Rapoport on the delicate interplay between the Loper Bright ruling and the new tax bill news.bloombergtax.com/payroll/gops...

EY delays start dates for some of this year's graduate intake in the US. It's the third year in a row the firm has done this, making it an outlier among the Big Four. www.ft.com/content/815e...

He “couldn’t let go — if these scandals hadn’t happened he would still be here”: the battle by World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab to save his legacy. With @stephenfoleyft.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/011d...

Are IOUs from the taxman worth the paper they are not written on? www.ft.com/content/9820...

Big news in the footnotes to Uber’s latest quarterly accounts. The ride-sharing app has won a multimillion-pound reprieve on disputed UK tax payments, after the odds shifted in its favor in a £1.4bn VAT battle. www.ft.com/content/d12f...

KPMG resigns as auditor to scandal-hit P&O Ferries www.ft.com/content/c8b5...

PCAOB chair Erica Williams tells me that Republicans' plan to axe her regulator could damage audit quality not just in the US but all around the world. Interview here: www.ft.com/content/6c5d...

Trump Media’s auditor was booted from a US accountancy group after taking the president’s business as a client last year, a lawsuit claims $DJT www.ft.com/content/9b26...

Deloitte and EY are going o be neighbors www.wsj.com/real-estate/...

Republicans plan to scrap the US audit regulator, the PCAOB, that was set up after the Enron scandal www.ft.com/content/d8a0...

PwC has ordered nearly 300 US partners to cut ties with a tiny brokerage offering speculative small-cap investments. It's a ruling that has caused consternation at the highest levels of the firm. www.ft.com/content/7525...

Scammers are using a deepfake video of our columnist Martin Wolf. Why, he asks, is Meta not doing more? www.ft.com/content/80d9...