*/ /*–>*/ The UK coalition government has dropped its controversial plans to scrap the Serious Fraud Office, the country’s lead agency for investigating and prosecuting financial crime. Home Secretary Theresa May, the minister responsible for policing, said the SFO would be “staying as it is” while she creates a new National Crime Agency to combat […]
Neil Baker
Posted inFrom the Archive
Survey Highlights ‘Spreadsheet Risk’
*/ /*–>*/ Over half of all UK corporate spreadsheet users have never received any formal training in the software and nearly three quarters (72%) say no internal department checks the accuracy of their spreadsheets, according to a new survey. ClusterSeven, the data management company behind the study, said companies were putting undue trust in the […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Compromised Remuneration Committees Boosting Exec Pay
*/ /*–>*/ Average chief executive pay at UK-listed companies increased by a third last year and has quadrupled over the last 12 years, despite flat share prices, according to research from proxy agency Manifest. The agency said company remuneration committees were struggling to maintain their independence from their chief executives and were adopting increasingly expensive, […]
Posted inAnti-Bribery
Fight Against Corruption Losing Momentum
*/ /*–>*/ International efforts to tackle bribery and corruption are losing momentum, according to Transparency International (TI), an anti-corruption group. Every year TI monitors global compliance with the OECD’s benchmark anti-bribery convention. Its latest report shows that for the first time in seven years there has been no increase in the number of countries enforcing […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Australia Should Hold Fire on Exec Pay Laws
*/ /*–>*/ The Australian government should not introduce new laws on executive pay levels or disclosure, and should think about scrapping some of the complex regulations that exist already, according to a report from its legal advisor. The Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (CMAC), which advises the federal government on company law, proposed new guidance […]
Posted inEurope
Doubts Over Europe’s Tax Plan
*/ /*–>*/ The European Union is struggling to gain support for its controversial plan to create a single means of calculating corporation tax in its 27 member states. The U.K. government said last week that it would not back the idea and media reports suggest at least six other nations have told EU policymakers they […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
British Anti-trust Regulator Decides Audit Market Needs Fixing
*/ /*–>*/ The Big Four accounting firms dominate the British audit market in a way that restricts, distorts, or prevents competition, the country’s anti-trust regulator has decided. The Office of Fair Trading, which reached that conclusion, will now try to agree to voluntary remedies with the firms involved. If talks fail it can refer the […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Australia and New Zealand Finish Accounts Convergence
*/ /*–>*/ Australia and New Zealand have adopted new financial reporting standards that complete a project to converge the two countries’ accounting regimes. The standard-setters said harmonisation would reduce compliance and accounting costs for companies that had operations in both countries. Kevin Stevenson, the chairman of the Australian Accounting Standards Board, said the two countries’ […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
IASB Shines Light on Hidden Liabilities
*/ /*–>*/ The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has issued three new rulings aimed at bringing companies’ off-balance sheet activities more clearly into the open. The financial crisis exposed the way that some businesses had been using special-purpose entities and other vehicles to present a rosy picture of their liabilities. The new rulings bring International […]
Posted inEthics & Culture
Fund Managers Need Better Ethical Disclosure
*/ /*–>*/ European fund managers should do more to disclose how they operate any investment funds that they market as “ethical”, according to an industry association. The market for ethical or “responsible” investing is booming in Europe, but there is no widely agreed understanding of what constitutes responsible investment, according to the European Fund and […]