Internal control

The Institute of Internal Auditors has published a practice aid that serves as a mid-year reminder to internal auditors to assure a company's governance is rooted in those critical intangibles—integrity and ethics, for example—that steer people in the right direction.

The U.K. government has started consultation on how a key part of its new Bribery Act will work in practice, warning companies that they will need to “go beyond paper compliance” when the Act takes effect next April.Companies will face prosecution under the Act if staff or third-party agents pay...

U.K. regulator the Financial Services Authority has hit Zurich Insurance with a record fine for failing to keep confidential customer information safe.Zurich lost the personal details of 46,000 customers, including in some cases their bank and credit card information.The regulator found that the company did not have adequate systems and...

0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false Corporate governance standards at companies listed in France have improved over the year, but more action is needed to control executive powers and to explain any deviations from governance best practice, according to the head of the country’s stock...

0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} U.K. regulator the Financial Services Authority has fined Barclays, the banking group, $4.09 million for a series of internal control and compliance breaches and warned...

The quality of corporate governance among the world’s leading companies has been widely criticized of late, with some blaming poor boardroom practice in the financial sector for the global downturn. But audit committee members around the world feel they have been doing a good job, according to a new KPMG...

Financial firms that fall foul of the U.K’s lead regulator face a three-fold increase in fines under its plan to get tougher with wrongdoers.The Financial Services Authority (FSA), which said recently it wanted firms to be more frightened by its enforcement powers, said its proposed new penalty regime reflected its...

The UK government has published long-awaited draft legislation that will create new criminal offenses to combat bribery, including measures aimed at foreign companies.The draft Bribery Bill, if enacted, would bring the UK into line with its international obligations to deal with companies that bribe overseas officials. The country has a...

Institutional investors must do more to hold companies to account and question them about their corporate governance practices, according to the chief executive of the U.K.’s Financial Services Authority, Hector Sants.Speaking at the U.K National Association of Pension Funds’ investment conference, Sants said shareholders must take responsibility—acting on their own...