Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato at the 2005 G8 finance ministers’ meeting. Rato was found guilty of embezzlement and sentenced to 4 ½ years' imprisonment on February 23, 2017. Matthew Fearn/ Press Association. All rights reserved.In every crisis, corporations have sought to find opportunities to profit – and the crisis caused by Brexit is no different. Like sharks circling a sinking lifeboat, in this case the UK facing an unprecedented and deeply intractable and complex breakup with the EU, the so-called ‘Big Four’ audit firms ((EY, Deloitte, KPMG and PWC), have stepped forward along with an array of lawyers, trade experts, lobbyists, management and public relations consultancies, to offer the UK government and other companies expert advice and technical support. Promising to help their clients not only manage risk, but also identify new business opportunities, all the Big Four have set up Brexit teams to cash in on uncertainty.
Promising to help their clients not only manage risk, but also identify new business opportunities, all the Big Four have set up Brexit teams to cash in on uncertainty. EY advises its clients, for example,of the risk of challenges to their supply chains, but also heralds the opportunities of enhanced ‘regulatory freedom’. Firms like Marsh and McLennan and Oliver Wyman are offering clients analysis, scenario planning and risk management strategies that will help them 'navigate a changing landscape'.
There seems, however, to be a remarkable level of amnesia about the role many of these same firms have played more recently in the financial crisis.
