The head of the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office is calling for new legislation that would make companies criminally liable for failing to prevent employee theft or fraud. The U.K. Bribery Act already holds companies liable for failure to prevent bribery by employees if it can be proven the companies lacked adequate procedures in place […]
Europe
Posted inEurope
European Parliament Panel Approves Revisions to Clinical Trial Regulations
Legislators this week endorsed revamped regulations that would streamline clinical trials of new medicines, making such trials both cheaper and faster while still ensuring patient safety. European Parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee unanimously approved the proposal, which backers say provides simpler reporting procedures and would encourage research. The law would replace the […]
Posted inEurope
European Parliament Looking to Boost Ranks of Women on Boards of Listed Companies
Members of European Parliament are pushing a proposal to force listed companies to improve gender balance in their boardrooms through mandatory quotas backed by sanctions. A directive to improve gender balance among non-executive directors of companies listed on stock exchanges is being studied in two committees, the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Committee on […]
Posted inEurope
European Anti-Fraud Office Touts Greater Efficiency in Annual Report
The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) more than doubled the number of cases it closed in the past year while reducing the average duration of those cases. The agency’s 2012 annual report, released this week, revealed OLAF closed 465 cases in 2012, compared to 208 in 2011. During that time period the average duration of an […]
Posted inEurope
France, UK Join Global Transparency Initiative for Extractive Industry
In a move hailed by transparency advocates, the United Kingdom and France this week announced plans to join an anti-corruption initiative focused on the gas, oil, and mining industries. UK Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande revealed the decision to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) during a joint press conference […]
Posted inEurope
Proposed EU Financial Transaction Tax Slammed by Critics
The so-called Robin Hood tax is continuing to generate criticism as a group of member nations tries to advance the financial transaction tax through the European Commission. The FTT, which targets the financial sector because of its role in the current economic crisis and because of the government support received by the sector, seeks to […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Parliament One Step Closer to Single EU Banking Supervision System
The European Union took a step closer to a single banking supervisor this week as members of parliament approved draft legislation to set up the unified system. The plan calls for the European Central Bank (ECB) to have direct supervision of Europe’s largest banks as well as influence over the supervision of other banks. Members approved […]
Posted inEurope
EU Set to Adopt More Stringent Data Privacy Laws
The European Parliament is working on a final proposal that would make the European Union’s already stringent data privacy laws even tougher for businesses and would cast a wider net, requiring many U.S. companies to comply with European data protection regulation for the first time. The Parliament was supposed to agree to a revised version […]
Posted inEurope
Ernst & Young Fraud Survey Shows Europe Not Immune to Bribery, Corruption
More than a third of executives polled in a recent survey believe companies in their country are exaggerating their financial performance, according to an annual Ernst & Young fraud report released this week. That’s not just a problem for developing countries, as the survey pinpointed several European countries where executives indicated companies often are “cooking […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Parliament Taking Aim at International Accounting Standards
Members of European Parliament this week are calling for a possible overhaul of international accounting standards used by European companies and banks. At issue is the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), adopted by the European Union in 2005, with the goal of having one global set of accounting standards for listed companies. The International Accounting Standards […]
