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Accountancy Firms Reining In Christmas Partying After Scandals

Accountancy Firms Reining In Christmas Partying After Scandals

(Bloomberg) -- All accountants want for Christmas is a safe and scandal-free office party.

BDO LLP’s chief operating officer has asked senior leaders to consider staffing seasonal celebrations with two chaperones to look after guests and ensure any venue has first aiders on site in case of any medical emergencies, the Financial Times reported.

“I know these precautionary measures might sound slightly excessive to some, but I think the above is sensible for the wellbeing of our people,” Andy Butterworth said in a memo.

Other big U.K. bookkeepers are also taking steps to reduce the heavy drinking and sometimes boorish behavior that has characterized some corporate parties during the holiday season.

Both KPMG LLP and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP are encouraging staff to hold daytime events rather than drinks parties while Deloitte LLP has underlined to staff its expectations of their behavior.

“We expect our people to act professionally in the workplace or any other location when they are representing the firm,” a spokesperson at Deloitte said. “Our internal policies and code of ethics clearly set out our expected standards of behavior.” PwC, KPMG and Ernst & Young LLP didn’t immediately respond to emailed requests for comment sent outside usual office hours.

Bad behavior at boozy work gatherings is increasingly under the microscope in the City of London. The Presidents Club said in January it would shut down after an investigation by the FT revealed hostesses at its men-only fundraising dinner were subjected to groping, lewd comments and repeated requests to join diners in bedrooms. Lloyd’s of London has been rocked by allegations of endemic sexual misconduct amid a boozy culture.

In October, a partner at law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP was found by a U.K. regulatory body to have engaged in sexual activity with a 20-year-old colleague who was intoxicated. He resigned after the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal ordered him to pay more than $300,000 following a nine-day trial. Soon after, Freshfields introduced a conduct committee that would dock a partner’s compensation by 20% if an internal investigation concludes their behavior is worth a “warning.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Metcalf in London at tmetcalf7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Stephen Kirkland

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