A look at the most read stories on eprivateclient this week....
Monday
Hall Brown Family Law, the top boutique family law firm at the 2023 eprivateclient Excellence Awards, launched a national mediation service, which will be led from its Leeds office, naming new partner Sarah Manning as its head. Ms Manning's arrival and Hall Brown's continued investment in dispute resolution has marked the latest expansion in the firm's Yorkshire operations. Ms Manning, became Hall Brown's 13th partner, qualified as a mediator more than a decade ago and has focused on building her practice ever since.
HMRC issued over 90,000 penalties for errors in tax returns last year, figures from UHY Hacker Young revealed. Last year, HMRC issued 79,081 fines to individuals due to their "failure to take reasonable care" whilst filling in their tax returns. A further 10,229 penalties were issued for "deliberate errors" made on returns. Penalties issued for “errors with deliberate concealment” – the most severe category of penalty – increased in the last tax year by 23 percent from 1,025 in 2021-22 to 1,2663 in 2022-23.
Tuesday
Fiduciary, corporate and fund services provider JTC appointed Richard Hughes as group head of its commercial office. Mr Hughes was previously international chief executive at Brooks MacDonald, a role he had held since 2021. Mr Hughes had worked at the wealth management firm for over 10 years, having joined the firm as head of business development - international in 2013. In his role at JTC, Mr Hughes will lead a team focused on enhancing how the group delivers its services to clients, the development of new propositions, JTC’s strategic partnerships and the commercial integration of acquisitions.
UK sales of prime properties fell by 45 percent in the past year from 785 to 431, according to accountancy firm Lubbock Fine. The total value of sales of prime properties, valued in excess of £5 million, fell 47 percent over the same period, from £7.24 billion in 2021/22 to £3.83 billion in 2022/23. The City of Westminster saw sales fall from 229 in 2021/22 to 122 in 2022/23, Kensington and Chelsea saw a decrease from 246 to 132, whilst Camden saw sales fall from 63 to 34. [Read more]
Wednesday
Fiduciary and professional services provider Suntera Global appointed Kathryn Wilkinson as managing director of its Jersey office, with a remit to continue to support the firm's growth plans. In her new role, Ms Wilkinson will provide leadership and direction to support all activities of Suntera Global’s Jersey operation, the firm’s corporate headquarters. Previously holding the position of Suntera’s director of operations in Jersey, Ms Wilkinson has more than 25 years’ experience in financial services, with experience in a number of disciplines including compliance, change management, risk and governance across the banking and investment fund sectors.
KPMG in the UK recorded revenue growth with a rise of nine percent from £2.72 billion in 2022 to £2.96 billion for the financial year ending 30 September 2023. The big four advisory firm recorded profit before tax of £364 million (down from £449 million last year) with growth across most sectors (19 percent for audit, eight percent for tax and legal, seven percent consulting) but a reduction in deal advisory of six percent which the firm said was reflective of the wider slowdown in the global deals market and challenging UK market conditions in the firm’s fourth quarter of financial reporting.
Thursday
Two boutique London based law firms specialising in high net worth divorce and family law merged. Alexiou Fisher Philipps and BloomBudd are to merge to form AFP Bloom - the first London merger of established boutique firms in this field. The three principal partners Tom Amlot, William Healing and Zoë Bloom have more than 60 combined years of experience in this field. The enlarged firm operating from existing West End offices will comprise 20 lawyers and paralegals and will include eight partners. All AFP Bloom lawyers will specialise in high value international divorce work.
The Supreme Court handed down judgment in ultra-high net worth divorce case Potanina v Potanin. The case which centred on whether Ms Potanina should be allowed to bring a $6 billion (£4.7 billion) claim for financial relief against her former husband, Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin, in the English courts, having already litigated widely in Russia. [Read more from Ethan Almond]
Friday
Global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) strengthened its tax advisory offering with the appointment of Victoria Price as a managing director, to lead the firm’s private capital offering for entrepreneurs in the UK. Ms Price has two decades of experience in providing comprehensive tailored tax services and a proven track record of building and growing businesses within the UK and across EMEIA both organically and through acquisition.
UK law firm Irwin Mitchell completed its acquisition of Silk Family Law following approval from Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA). The acquisition added to Irwin Mitchell’s existing national presence in family law. The law firm has ambitions to grow its family and private client teams further in the Northeast and North Yorkshire with the increased capacity and capability that Silk Family Law provides.