Plus: Full ruling in $5bn High Court case expected by end of Q1
Gareth Corfield Fri 26 Feb 2021 // 13:39 UTC Share
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise wants a High Court judge to formally consider a damning report which found that Deloitte auditors committed misconduct when they signed off British software firm Autonomy s annual accounts.
If successful, HPE s move would allow Mr Justice Hildyard to take into account the Financial Reporting Council s (FRC) extremely unflattering findings against Deloitte and former auditors Richard Knights and Nigel Mercer, who, the FRC found, wrongfully signed off misleading statements in Autonomy s accounts.
Given that a substantial part of Lynch s High Court defence amounted to Deloitte said it was OK so we did nothing wrong , having the FRC s findings read by the judge could punch a hole through his case.
Plus: All his former Deloitte auditors can be made to testify against him
Gareth Corfield Thu 11 Feb 2021 // 14:01 UTC Share
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The US government will never drop its criminal charges against Autonomy founder Mike Lynch even if extradition were refused, his US attorney has told a British court.
Chris Morvillo, Lynch s US legal representative, said to Westminster Magistrates Court yesterday afternoon: Even if extradition were refused, the judge would not dismiss the charges against Mr Lynch in the US, in the event Mr Lynch was apprehended outside the United Kingdom and brought to the United States. The charges wouldn t disappear.
Morvillo, a partner in the US branch of law firm Clifford Chance, was replying to questions from District Judge Michael Snow. The judge is presiding over the US s attempt to extradite Lynch from London to stand trial on 17 criminal charges.
Urgent children s operations cancelled due to Covid, Royal College of Surgeons warns
Emergency children’s operations, such as cancer surgery, are increasingly being cancelled around the country
Urgent children s operations are being cancelled due to “prolonged” coronavirus pressures in hospitals, Royal College of Surgeons has warned.
Operations rated as priority two (P2), meaning they should be carried out within four weeks, have been delayed or cancelled during the current wave, surgeons say.
This is due to a combination of staff being redeployed to Covid wards, staff being off sick due to the virus, and children’s wards being taken over for adult Covid patients, a source told the HSJ.
Dozens and potentially hundreds of urgent operations for children have been cancelled during the third wave of the covid pandemic, HSJ can reveal.
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Deloitte and Messrs. Knights and Mercer failed to fulfill their duty to check the reliability of Autonomyâs financial reporting, according to the report, which also noted that Autonomy was listed in the FTSE 100 at the time, the countryâs index of its largest publicly traded businesses.
âAutonomy was an important client for Deloitte generally, and for the Cambridge office in particular. It was the only FTSE 100 company audited from that office,â the FRC said.
In September, the FRC fined Deloitte £15 million ($19.5 million) and sanctioned Messrs. Knights and Mercer in relation to the Autonomy audits.
On Wednesday, the two former partners said they disagreed with the reportâs findings, adding that âat all times, we believe we acted professionally, diligently and in good faith.â