UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has opened an investigation into KPMG’s audit of the accounts of Rolls-Royce.
The FRC will probe the accountancy giant’s oversight of Rolls-Royce’s financial statements covering four years.
It follows Rolls-Royce’s settlement of £671 million ($800 million) with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in January over corruption allegations.
KPMG said it was co-operating and was “confident in the quality” of its work.
In a statement, the accountancy watchdog said: “The FRC has commenced an investigation under the Audit Enforcement Procedure into the conduct of KPMG Audit Plc, in relation to the audit of the financial statements of Rolls-Royce Group plc for the year ended December 31, 2010, and of Rolls-Royce Holdings plc for the years ended 31 December 2011 to December 31, 2013.
“The decision to investigate follows the SFO announcement on January 17, 2017, of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement between the SFO and Rolls-Royce which relates to offences including conspiracy to corrupt and a failure to prevent bribery.”
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The agreements relate to bribery and corruption scandals involving intermediaries in overseas markets such as Indonesia and China.
Rolls-Royce first passed information to the SFO in 2012 after facing “allegations of malpractice” in the two countries, after which the fraud squad launched a formal investigation.
The aero-engine maker said at the time that its own investigations had found “matters of concern” in additional overseas markets.
KPMG, one of the world’s largest accountancy firms, said: “It is important that regulators acting in the public interest should review high profile issues. We will co-operate fully with the FRC’s investigation, which follows the SFO’s investigations into Rolls-Royce.
“We are confident in the quality of all the audit work we have completed for Rolls-Royce, including the 2010-2013 period the FRC is considering.”
The company has audited Rolls-Royce for 26 years, but is due to replaced in 2018 by PwC.
Rolls-Royce apologized “unreservedly” after the SFO settlement.
The SFO revealed 12 counts of conspiracy to corrupt or failure to prevent bribery in seven countries – Indonesia, China, Russia, Thailand, India, Nigeria and Malaysia.
Often described as “a jewel in the UK’s industrial crown”, Rolls-Royce makes engines for military and civil planes, as well as for trains, ships, nuclear submarines and power stations.
According to latest figures, the sales of Rolls-Royce luxury cars have been affected by a fall in demand in China.
Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos said the turnaround in the market had been unexpectedly fast.
“We have been surprised by the speed of development in the Chinese market in a completely different direction,” he said.
Chinese buyers have been affected by the slump in the stock market, slower growth and a corruption clamp-down.
However, Torsten Muller-Otvos played down fears that recent events in China would last long, forecasting that sales there would recover in the next two years.
“China has never been our number one market. Our number one market is the United States and due to the fact we are properly balanced we can cope with some of the downturn in China,” he explained.
Rolls-Royce chief executive John Rishton will be replaced by Warren East after his retirement on July 2.
John Rishton, who has been at the company since 2011, said it was “time for a change in lifestyle”.
Warren East was head of UK chipmaker Arm Holdings between 2001 and 2013 and has been a non-executive director at Rolls-Royce since the beginning of last year.
He helped turn Arm into a leading developer of chips to major technology companies such as Apple.
Warren East said he was “delighted” to be appointed as the new chief executive.
“[Rolls-Royce] is well positioned in growth markets, with world-class engineering skills and a proud record of innovation and delivery.
“The markets which Rolls Royce serves and the technology it deploys are fascinating. This is a wonderful opportunity and I am very much looking forward to leading this remarkable company.”
John Rishton said: “We have made good progress transforming Rolls-Royce and have a strong team in place. While there is clearly more to do, the company is better placed to face the future.”
Real estate tycoon Kameron Segal has been shot by a bike-riding gunman as he sat parked in his Rolls Royce in Hollywood.
Kameron Segal, 48, was shot at least twice in the neck area at close range around 8:40 p.m. Friday while parked behind his business, William Holdings Inc., in the 7500 block of Sunset Boulevard, just west of North Gardner Street. He was taken to Cedars-Sinai hospital where he was reported in critical but stable condition on January 17.
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Police say there was no indication of robbery but haven’t disclosed a motive in the mysterious attack.
Authorities say the shooter – described as a black man wearing dark clothing – rode up on either a 10-speed or racing bicycle and attacked Kameron Segal before pedaling off. Police searched the Hollywood area but were unable to locate him.
On his website, Kameron Segal is described as the chief executive and founder of William Holdings Inc., a real estate management company with 19 apartment buildings in Los Angeles. An acquaintance at the scene told a KNBC-TV reporter that Kameron Segal was on his way to purchase a $5-million building in downtown Los Angeles.
Delta Air Lines will replace its old Boeing planes with 50 Airbus wide-body jets powered by Rolls Royce engines.
The order, worth $14 billion, confirmed by Delta on November 20, is a victory for the European plane maker over its US rival’s Dreamliner 787.
It includes 25 Airbus A350-900 and 25 advanced Airbus A330-900neo aircraft.
Rolls Royce will provide Trent engines for both types of aircraft and long term servicing in a deal worth $5 billion.
The order is welcome news to Rolls Royce which has seen its share price fall by around a quarter since the beginning of the year following cut backs in military spending.
The company issued a profit warning in October and earlier this month announced 2,600 job losses as development work on two of its latest engines, the Trent 1000 and XWB, came to an end.
Airbus is reported to have won the contract after promising to deliver its latest A330neo in 2019, ahead of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.
The Dreamliner has been beset with problems, suffering several delays before its 2011 introduction and then being grounded due to battery fires last year.
However, by October 2014 Boeing said more than 1,000 Dreamliners had been ordered by 60 customers around the world.
The Delta deal is significant for Airbus and Rolls Royce because they hope other American legacy carriers will follow its example as they upgrade their ageing fuel-hungry fleets.
John Leahy, Airbus’ Chief Operating Officer said: “When the most successful US airline today … says <<yes we want 50 more of your wide body planes>>, you can’t debate the fact that it is a massive endorsement of your product line.”
The A350s will be delivered in Q2 2017 and will fly routes between the US and Asia. They are expected to give a 20% improvement in operating cost per seat over Delta’s existing aircraft.
The A330neos will fly medium-haul trans-Atlantic routes as well as some routes between the American west coast and Asia.
Rolls-Royce has announced it is planning to cut 2,600 jobs over the next 18 months.
The company said most of the jobs would go in its aerospace division, with most of the posts being shed in 2015.
It is not clear where the cuts will be made from Rolls-Royce’s global workforce of 55,000, 24,000 of whom are in the UK.
The company’s chief executive John Rishton said: “The measures announced today will not be the last, however they will contribute towards Rolls-Royce becoming a stronger and more profitable company.”
Last month, Rolls warned that its underlying revenues for 2014 would be 3.5-to-4% lower than expected.
Rolls-Royce has announced it is planning to cut 2,600 jobs over the next 18 months
The company said voluntary redundancy would be offered, although it could not rule out compulsory redundancies.
The company’s UK staff are employed at four locations in the East Midlands, as well as 1,500 at five sites in the North West and 2,400 employees at six locations across Scotland.
The two largest sites are in Bristol and Derby.
Rolls-Royce said it had become more efficient, and cited the fact a large engineering team, needed for the development phase of two Trent engines, were no longer needed as both these were now in production.
That would point to job losses in Derby, where the Trent engines, used by many international airlines, are built.
Rolls-Royce is the second largest aero-engine maker in the world.
The company has customers in more than 120 countries, including more than 380 airlines and leasing firms, 160 armed forces, 4,000 marine customers including 70 navies, and 1,600 energy and nuclear customers.
Rolls-Royce Holdings has warned of falling revenues as trade sanctions against Russia begin to bite.
Customers of Rolls-Royce’s nuclear, energy and power systems businesses have delayed or cancelled orders, the company said in a trading update.
As a result, group underlying revenue for 2014 would be 3.5%-to-4% lower than expected, it said.
However, Rolls-Royce expected underlying profit to remain flat as cost savings counterbalanced the falling revenue.
“Since our interim results, the economic outlook for 2015 has become more challenging,” the company said, with many of its customers experiencing “worsening market conditions” affecting their investment decisions.
Rolls-Royce Holdings has warned of falling revenues as trade sanctions against Russia begin to bite
Guidance on revenues for its civil aerospace, defense aerospace, marine and power systems divisions, remained unchanged, the company said.
Nuclear and energy revenue guidance would fall from 0%-to-5%, down from 5%-to-10%.
However, Rolls-Royce expected underlying profit in its civil aerospace division to be higher than previously thought.
“While the short term is clearly challenging, reflecting the economic environment, the prospects for the group remain strong, driven by the growing global requirement for cleaner, better power,” said chief executive John Rishton.
Rolls-Royce’s share price fell 7.5% in early morning trading as the market reacted negatively to the revenue warning.
Indian government has put on hold all deals with Rolls-Royce until it completes an investigation into bribery allegations against the company, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
A federal agency is probing allegations that Rolls-Royce paid bribes for supply of aircraft engines.
Rolls-Royce said it would “cooperate fully” with Indian authorities.
The company is the world’s second biggest manufacturer of aircraft engines.
India’s defense ministry had put on hold all “existing and future” contracts with Rolls-Royce pending the results of an investigation by the country’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the purchase of jet fighter engines in a deal worth $1.6 billion, PTI reported.
Indian government has put on hold all deals with Rolls-Royce until it completes an investigation into bribery allegations against the company
The Rolls-Royce engines were supplied to the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) between 2007 and 2011, reports said.
“There was an internal vigilance report [by HAL] that suggested there were discrepancies in the deal. The CBI will look into that,” the AFP news agency quoted a defense official as saying.
A Rolls-Royce spokesman said the company would cooperate with the inquiry.
“We have repeatedly made clear that we will not tolerate misconduct of any sort,” PTI quoted the spokesman as saying.
Rolls-Royce said last year that the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) was investigating allegations of possible bribery in China and Indonesia.
Last month, two people were arrested in London as part of an SFO investigation into the firm’s activities in Asia.
The office said at the end of last year it had opened a formal investigation into the engine maker about bribery and corruption in overseas markets.
The Rolls-Royce probe is the latest controversy to hit India’s defense purchases.
Rick Ross narrowly saved his life after his Rolls Royce was sprayed with bullets and crashed into an apartment building as he celebrated his 37th birthday.
Rapper Rick Ross staggered from his car along with a female companion after the attack in the early hours of Monday morning.
His silver Rolls Royce was apparently targeted in the drive-by shooting as he headed home after celebrating his birthday with stars including Diddy, Christina Milian and Fabolous Quincy Combs.
Police said the two occupants of the car were not injured when it slammed into the building on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.
Local news images showed crime scene investigators marked out on the road where the spent shell casings had fallen.
Earlier in the evening Rick Ross was pictured wearing a white suit and gold chains as he smoked a cigar, tucked into a huge cake, clutched a bottle of champagne, and partied with the star-studded guest list at his birthday bash.
Rick Ross narrowly saved his life after his Rolls Royce was sprayed with bullets and crashed into an apartment building as he celebrated his 37th birthday
Beth Balk, a waitress at the nearby Floridian Restaurant, whose was woken by the sound of the car crashing into her building, identified Rick Ross as one of two people in the luxury car.
She said she was asleep on the couch when she heard the crash.
Beth Balk said she saw a silver Rolls Royce up against her building and looked outside to see a man and a woman who appeared to be stunned.
She was shown a picture of Rick Ross and said: “Yes, that’s definitely the guy.”
The incident began about 5:00 a.m. with reports of shots being fired along Las Olas Boulevard, according to Detective DeAnna Garcia.
Investigators later learned that shots from another vehicle had been fired at a the Rolls Royce that was traveling eastbound on Las Olas, DeAnna Garcia said.
The Rolls Royce drier attempted to escape the gunfire but lost control of the vehicle and ran into the wall of the apartment building next to the Floridian Restaurant.
The two people inside the Rolls Royce were not hit by gunfire, police said.
Rick Ross, 36, whose real name is William Roberts, has seen his albums Port of Miami and Trilla top the Billboard charts.
He has had several run ins with police and was arrested in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 2011 for marijuana possession.
Rick Ross is also said to have a long running feud with 50Cent after the pair exchanged words at an awards ceremony.
Rolls-Royce has announced that it is in talks with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) over possible bribery and corruption.
“It is too early to predict the outcomes, but these could include the prosecution of individuals and of the company,” Rolls-Royce said.
The British aircraft engine manufacturer said it had passed on information about alleged malpractice by intermediaries.
It followed a request from the SFO for information about alleged malpractice in Indonesia and China.
Rolls-Royce said it was cooperating fully with the investigation.
“I want to make it crystal clear that neither I nor the board will tolerate improper business conduct of any sort and will take all necessary action to ensure compliance,” said chief executive John Rishton.
“This is a company with exceptional prospects, and I will not accept any behavior that undermines its future success.”
Rolls-Royce has announced that it is in talks with the Serious Fraud Office over possible bribery and corruption
The company said that it had recently instituted a new ethics code of conduct, and would be hiring an independent consultant to carry out a review of its current procedures.
Rolls-Royce is a major international player in civil aerospace and defence, and employs over 40,000 people in 50 countries.
It is the world’s second largest manufacturer of aircraft engines after General Electric.
China and Indonesia were ranked 80 and 118 respectively out of 174 countries in the corruption perceptions index published by Transparency International on Wednesday, ranking from the least down to the most corrupt.
Shares in the company fell 5% at the start of trading in London on Thursday.
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