In this week’s moves and appointments roundup, Grant Thornton appoints head of corporate finance advisory, NAO loses executive lead after six years, RSM gains a tax partner, Addison Lee appoints chief financial officer

Former PwC partner Wesley Bricker has been named interim chief accountant at the US regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), while permanent postholder James Schnurr recovers from a serious bicycle accident

There is still much talk of the ‘glass ceiling’ and the dearth of women in senior positions on boards and in leading roles in accountancy however, with the gender balance of accountancy trainees shifting in favour of women, it might not take that long to change says, Kate Sayer, tax partner at Sayer Vincent

Political decisiveness could assuage some of the fears post Brexit vote, but the impact of uncertainty on the UK economy is not yet apparent, says George Buckley, chief economist at Deutsche Bank

The amount of women at executive committee level has remained at 17% for more than two years in FTSE 100 businesses despite the number of women in large corporates increasing at all other levels, according to research by the Cracking the Code team, a collaboration between KPMG, Why Women Work, YSC and the 30% Club

SME owners need to prepare their exit strategies ahead of retirement as one in three reach the age of 60 without any succession plans in place, warns research from Moore Stephens

Appointments this week include four new partners at PwC, IFRS gets a new director, a promotion at EY, CIMA chief Charles Tilley moves to CGMA Research Foundation, Honeycomb Forensic Accountants appoints director, president of ICAEW becomes chairman of CCAB 

Dains Accountants has appointed Richard McNeilly as managing partner taking over from Spencer Wright who is stepping down after 10 years in the role

EY has become the second of the Big Four accountancy firms to sign up to a new government charter designed to improve gender diversity in senior positions within the financial services sector, following on from PwC’s pledge at its launch

Career news this week includes a new secretary at the Treasury, two promotions at Grant Thornton, BDO appoints a head of legal and PwC appoints a new real estate leader

All of the Big Four firms have achieved more than 30% female representation in senior leadership roles according to research by the Managing Partners’ Forum (MPF), which is calling for professional firms to aim for voluntary target of 40% over the next three years as they outperform large corporates on gender diversity

CIPFA and EY have teamed up to offer a service delivering fully compliant accounts for local authorities, in response to the growing complexity of reporting requirements in the sector