Keep up with the latest accounting and finance news in our weekly round-up…

Philip Green asks for taxpayer support to prop up Arcadia

The billionaire retailer Philip Green is asking for taxpayer help to prop up his crumbling fashion empire, with 14,500 employees set to be paid out of the government’s emergency wage support scheme.

Accountancy firm criticises ‘alarmist’ prediction of 800,000 coronavirus insolvencies

Restructuring specialists at accountancy firm RSM said media reports that 800,000 to 1m UK businesses could collapse as a result of the coronavirus are ‘alarmist at best’.

Insurers, oil majors put FTSE 100 on track for weekly losses

UK’s FTSE 100 fell on Friday as oil stocks retreated after a strong showing in the previous session, while insurers tumbled after their European Union counterparts were asked to suspend dividend payments to weather the economic hit from the coronavirus crisis.

FRC fines KPMG £700,000 for poor audit

The FRC has fined KPMG UK £700,000 and reprimanded KPMG UK’s former senior partner for Manchester, Nicola Quayle for a “failure to apply sufficient professionalism scepticism” in the audit of an unnamed company in the financial year 2015/16.

Coronavirus: ‘Challenger’ audit firm Grant Thornton slashes pay

One of main challenges to the ‘big four’ audit firms has asked its 4,500 UK employees to volunteer for drastic pay cuts of face a substantial redundancy programme.