The recent furor in the United Kingdom over the Post Office’s wrongful prosecutions of sub-postmasters for alleged fraud has put the government’s relationship with private contractors under the spotlight and raised questions about how companies could be held more accountable in future.
Neil Hodge
Neil Hodge is a freelance business journalist and photographer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom. He writes on insurance and risk management, corporate governance, internal audit, compliance, and legal issues for a wide range of publications in the United Kingdom and United States.
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Stiffer U.K. audit penalties posing more problems?
Legal experts are unconvinced record fines against audit firms imposed last year by the U.K. Financial Reporting Council will necessarily improve audit quality.
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
U.K. push for more listings to lower bar on governance?
Moves by the U.K.’s financial regulatory body to encourage companies to list in London might fail to deliver or send mixed messages about the value placed on corporate governance, according to experts.
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
Disclosure rules not enough to curb U.K. salary gaps
The issue of “fat cat” pay awards was reignited in the United Kingdom after a think tank found a typical FTSE 100 CEO earned the average annual salary for a full-time worker after just four days into the new year.
Posted inEthics & Culture
Compliance with CSRD, CS3D, national laws an EU balancing act
Companies could be in danger of failing to comply with a raft of social responsibility-minded legislation at the European Union and national level because they might mistakenly think duties on corporates overlap when they do not.
Posted inEurope
Shades of GDPR? Experts assess AI Act as global standard
As the European Union’s AI Act sets its sights on 2026 to take full effect, experts are concerned other key jurisdictions might introduce divergent legislation that treats artificial intelligence use differently, thus making it difficult for companies to ensure compliance.
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
ARGA future questioned as U.K. audit reform hits backburner
The U.K. Financial Reporting Council’s long-planned transition to become the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority appears to be taking place no time soon, leading some to question whether the change will happen at all.
Posted inEurope
Assessing impact of court ruling on GDPR strict liability
The idea companies can be held “strictly liable” for violations of the European Union’s privacy rules was shot down, following a judgment from Europe’s top court relating to a case involving German property company Deutsche Wohnen.
Posted inEurope
Companies must hold insurers to account on AI use
Insurers embracing artificial intelligence-based technologies might pose serious risks to companies buying insurance if the risk data used to price their insurance premiums is used to train AI algorithms or shared on commonly used chatbots like ChatGPT.
Posted inEurope
All eyes on Companies House in U.K. corporate transparency efforts
The success of the U.K.’s latest legislative efforts to tackle financial crime depends on the capability of transforming what is often regarded as one of the country’s most passive regulators into a proactive—even aggressive—prosecuting authority.