Finance
Sixteen Glasgow students take first steps towards finance careers with Aon
Professional services firm Aon plc has welcomed 16 Glasgow-area students to its 2024 Work Insights Programme.
The initiative aims to boost social mobility by offering 16 to 17-year-old students from lower socio-economic backgrounds valuable experience in the finance and professional services sector.
The students spent time in the York St office where Aon colleagues delivered the programme which included a real workplace challenge, speed networking where they met with colleagues across a variety of roles, panel discussions around career pathways, and a CV and interview skills workshop.
Schools participating in the initiative included Woodfarm High School, St Ninian’s High School, Lourdes Secondary School, Jordanhill School, Eastwood High School, Holyrood Secondary School, Wallace High School, Hillhead High School, and Our Lady’s High School.
Last year Aon delivered its inaugural Work Insights programme to 600 students across the UK including 12 in Glasgow. On completion of the programme, 82% of students surveyed confirmed that they were likely to consider a career in finance and professional services.
Ross Mackay, head of office at Aon Glasgow, said: “It has never been more important to provide young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds with the opportunity to gain insight into the world of work, particularly the financial and professional services sector, through quality work experience.
“Aon is committed to increasing representation of those from lower socio-economic backgrounds across the business.
“The Work Insights Programme enables young people to develop employability skills, learn more about different career opportunities, and supports the transition from education to employment.”
Mr Mackay added: “I want to thank colleagues from Aon Glasgow who volunteered their time to deliver the programme – without them it wouldn’t be possible. The students were a credit to the schools they represent and enthusiastically engaged in all activities.
“I hope they have a greater understanding of our industry and that the experience supports their future careers.”
Aon employs more than 250 staff across Scotland, providing clients, from SMEs to large corporates, with commercial risk, health, reinsurance and wealth solutions. As part of the programme, Aon partnered with state-funded schools in Glasgow to reach pupils who would benefit most – adopting a selection process based on diversity statistics, such as areas with a high percentage of free school meals.
Finance
Low-income Chinese girl aces gaokao, inspires live-streamers offering help
A girl from a disadvantaged rural family in central China topped this year’s gaokao, attracting numerous live-streamers eager to finance her education, which she declined.
The home of 18-year-old secondary school graduate Han Yaping in a Henan province village was recently bustling with live-streamers.
This attention came after Han achieved an impressive score of 699 out of 750 in the gaokao, China’s national college entrance exam.
She has received offers from China’s two leading universities, Tsinghua University and Peking University.
Han’s accomplishment is particularly remarkable given her family’s impoverished circumstances.
Her mother suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory arthritis affecting the spine, preventing her from working. Her father, who earns a living through farming and odd jobs, serves as the family’s sole provider. Han also has a younger sister.
Finance
UK financial regulator publishes landmark AI review
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a landmark review on Monday that proposes recommendations to regulate the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the financial decisions made by consumers.
The review, titled the Mills Review, anticipates that both consumers and firms will start delegating “more financial decision-making to AI systems,” including for agreements, initiating transactions, and executing decisions “within agreed parameters.” One of the key findings of the review outlined that while AI can help bridge advice gaps and “support growth,” there remain risks “associated with fraud, cyber security, and consumer harm.” Conducting the review, Sheldon Mills highlighted that “AI can also amplify risks: bias, discrimination, exclusion, opaque decision-making (particularly when multiple AI models interact), misleading or hallucinatory advice and erosion of consumer trust.”
The review stated that presently, one in five adults in the UK are “already open to AI making decisions for them,” particularly when decisions feel “complex or high stakes.” It found that roughly 26 percent of the population “trust general-purpose tools such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini for financial advice” with little awareness that such platforms provide no “formal routes to recourse” or protections.
Overall, the Mills Review identified four areas that it anticipates will be impacted by AI in the financial sector: “the transformation of firms,” “new consumer journeys,” “a reshaped competition landscape,” and “amplified financial crime and cyber risk.” The FCA projected the shift in how consumers and firms consult AI to take place by 2030.
The Mills Review put forth seven “priority” recommendations to be considered by the FCA Board. It recommended that any transitions to autonomous AI models be monitored and that regulatory frameworks and perimeters be adapted and secured. The review called for the strengthening of “system-wide coordination and oversight,” the scaling up of the FCA’s AI Lab to enable it to support AI models and innovation for agentic finance, and an “AI-enabled agentic supervisory model” to be built and adopted. Finally, it recommended that a trusted “public-interest AI-enabled financial capability service” be developed.
The FCA announced, in the press release, that it will launch an AI “good and poor practice publication” in late 2026.
Finance
Fayette County Public Schools Board of Education approves audit contract, new finance director position
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – The Fayette County Public Schools Board of Education approved a one-year audit contract capped at $131,750 plus $225 per hour during a virtual meeting Monday, along with a new finance director job description.
The contract is with Mauldin & Jenkins Certified Public Accountants, an Atlanta-based firm, and covers the 2025-26 fiscal year and the restatement of the 2024-25 fiscal year and ancillary services through FY 2029-2030. The work is set to be completed by Nov. 15.
The board approved the contract in a 5-0 vote.
Audit contract details
Interim Chief Financial Officer Kyna Koch said the cost is already accounted for in the district’s budget.
“And is actually less than we expected given our current situation — we were thrilled with the bid,” Koch said.
Koch said she believes this is Mauldin & Jenkins’ first school district audit in Kentucky, but that the firm works with school districts of more than 100,000 students throughout the Southeast.
“Quite frankly when I spoke to the folks at KDE they were thrilled because we’re running kind of short of auditors who want to do school district audits — so all around I think this was a win-win for everyone,” Koch said.
New finance director position
The board also approved a new job description for the position of Director of Finance. Acting Superintendent Dr. Bill Bradford said the title will replace two associate director positions.
“Which will not only save the school district money but it’s also going to streamline our work and align internal controls to make room for a more efficient unit,” Bradford said.
Koch said the position will be posted as soon as possible following the board’s approval.
Closed session
The board went into closed session for more than an hour to discuss pending investigations that could lead to employee discipline. When the board returned, it took no action and adjourned the meeting.
Copyright 2026 WKYT. All rights reserved.
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