RESTRUCTURED. Deloitte is getting out of the restructuring game before it gets pushed. Its timing, however, looks lousy. The sale of the bean-counter’s UK insolvency arm to public relations outfit Teneo, according to Sky News, follows rules that effectively prevent the so-called Big Four from doing consultancy work for audit clients. That limits potential customers, putting restructuring bankers at a disadvantage versus independent peers. Selling now may at least get Deloitte the best price, some 400 million pounds, according to the Telegraph. Shorn of the practice, which employed 30 partners, Deloitte will also attract less attention from regulators worried about conflicts of interest, a hot topic given high-profile failures such as government contractor Carillion. KPMG is looking to do the same, Sky says. But with Covid-19 and Brexit laying waste to swathes of corporate Britain, the groups may miss out on a purple patch. And what’s left will be tethered more closely to upswings in Britain’s economic cycle. (By Ed Cropley)