LONDON’S BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
SNOWING FOR GOLD HOW BRITAIN CAME TO BE A TOP RUNNER FOR PARIS 2024 P19 WEDNESDAY 12 APRIL 2023
ISSUE 3,964
DANKER DITCHED
BON APPETIT LUCA HEAD CHEF CHAMBERS’ GUIDE TO LONDON P17
CITYAM.COM
FREE BREAKING UP ISN’T EASY
EY split plan canned after US pushback BEN LUCAS
CBI LOOKS TO TURN PAGE ON SCANDAL WITH OUSTER OF DIRECTOR GENERAL FORMER BOSS SAYS ACCUSATIONS AGAINST HIM HAVE BEEN ‘DISTORTED’ AND SAYS BODY WALKED BACK ON PROMISE TO LET HIM DEFEND HIMSELF BODY APOLOGISES FOR ‘ORGANISATIONAL FAILINGS’ AND ANNOUNCES CULTURE REVIEW ALONGSIDE NEW CEO JESSICA FRANK-KEYES TONY DANKER was dismissed as director general of the CBI yesterday as scandal continues to envelop Britain’s biggest business body. The Northern Irish boss stepped aside in March after staff made allegations of workplace misconduct against him, triggering an internal investigation by the law firm Fox Williams. That was followed by
further allegations of sexual misconduct against other senior CBI staff, published last week, though Danker is not involved in any of those latter allegations nor was he director general at the time. Yesterday, a statement from the CBI board said he was “dismissed with immediate effect following the independent investigation into specific complaints... against him.” The respected Rain NewtonSmith will take the reins
Danker, who at the time said he was “mortified” by the allegations, then hit back on Twitter. “I was... shocked to learn this morning that I had been dismissed from the CBI, instead of being invited to put my position forward as was originally confirmed,” he wrote. “Many of the allegations against me have been distorted, but I recognise that I unintentionally made a number of colleagues feel uncomfortable and I am truly sorry about that,” he continued. Rain Newton-Smith, former CBI chief economist, will rejoin the CBI as director
general just a month after jumping ship for a senior role at Barclays. The CBI will also launch an internal review of its culture. Last night, there was no sign that the lobbying body would have a warmer welcome in Westminster, however. Both the government and the Labour party have paused their engagement with the group until the end of the formal investigation into the most recent allegations, still ongoing. £ WHAT NEXT?: P2 £ OPINION: P16
EY HAS ditched its plan to split its audit and consulting businesses following opposition from its US unit. The firm’s global executive committee relayed the decision to partners in a note yesterday. The Big Four firm had put its plan to separate its audit division from its consulting business, dubbed ‘Project Everest’, on hold following infighting over the future of the accounting firm’s tax division. “We have been informed that the US Executive Committee has decided not to move forward with the design of Project Everest. Given the strategic importance of the US member firm to Project Everest, we are stopping work on the project,” the committee said, according to a copy of the note provided to City A.M. by an EY spokesperson. The decision to scrap the plan was first reported by the Financial Times. However, the committee said it was still committed to the idea of breaking up the businesses in the future. “The global executive remains committed to moving forward with creating two world-class organisations that further advance audit quality, independence and client choice,” they wrote.
Kroll’s Megan Greene to replace Silvana Tenreyro on Bank’s rate-setting committee JACK BARNETT MEGAN GREENE has been appointed by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to the Bank of England’s interest ratesetting committee, replacing top dove Silvana Tenreyro from 5 July. Greene will join the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) from consultancy Kroll, where she
has been global chief economist and a regular columnist for the Financial Times. The Treasury announced the decision yesterday, praising Greene for her “wide experience across financial markets and the real economy”, which “will bring valuable new expertise to the MPC”. In a recent column in the pink
broadsheet, she used the Eagles song ‘Hotel California’ to describe quantitative easing – central banks’ printing money via bond purchases – as a measure which can be paused but ultimately never really taken off the table entirely. “I’m honoured and thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to the policy debate
at the Bank of England as an external member of the MPC. It will be a privilege and a challenge to help address some of the key monetary policy challenges of our time,” Greene joins the MPC from Kroll
Greene said yesterday. Greene will be an external member of the MPC, meaning she can retain most of her existing duties. She is a senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University and a board member of the Academic Advisory Committee at the San Francisco Fed.
INSIDE IMF FORECASTS P3 NEW INVESTMENT TRUST PLOTS £100M LONDON FLOAT P5 CINEWORLD HITS ALL-TIME LOW P8 THE NOTEBOOK: ANDREW WOLFSON P10 MARKETS P12