The Big 4’s (KPMG, Ernst & Young, Deloitte and PwC) traditional accounting services have become increasingly commoditised and less profitable. They\’ve experienced slower growth and face greater legal risks. In order to respond to this market shift the Big 4 have been fighting a constant battle over the last 30 years to become major players in the legal industry to diversify their business. Throughout the 1990’s the Big 5 (as […]

Recently, you may have seen news reports paying considerable attention to the ‘yield curve inversion’. This metric was widely reported in the financial press as an inverted yield curve is considered by some economists to be a strong indicator of a forthcoming US recession. For example, according to the economist Campbell Harvey, an inversion of the curve has accurately forecast the last seven US recessions. In finance, where foreshadowing signals […]

10 years on from the financial crisis and the European banking sector is still suffering from a painful amount of problems; the sector is too large, lacks capital and most significantly has too many unprofitable, unsustainable players – the zombie banks. This final problem is the most troublesome and the focus of this article. The recent calamitous breakdown of the Deutsche Bank & Commerzbank merger was a timely reminder of […]

In 2013, President Xi Jinping officially announced China’s Belt & Road Initiative (the “BRI”, then known as the “One Belt One Road” or “OBOR”). The BRI is a proposal to revive the Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road that were established during the Han Dynasty of ancient China: the “Belt” refers to the overland links between China to Central Asia and Europe, while the “Road” refers to the maritime routes […]

Africa: Should businesses and law firms still be investing in this emerging market? In simple terms an emerging market is a country which is shifting away from their traditional economy and developing their productive capacity. However, it is difficult to come up with a comprehensive definition, so emerging markets are typically defined by five key characteristics. Lower than average per capita income (less than $4.035) Rapid economic growth Highly volatile […]