Europe

A leading shareholder group has called for an inquiry into whether the European Union should create a single financial watchdog, saying that the credit crunch has caused a “failure of trust” between the EU’s national regulators. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) made the call when it launched a plan to help restore confidence and […]

The European Commission would start to give direct funding to the body that produces international accounting standards under proposals announced this week. Currently the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation (IASCF), which overseas and finances the rule-making International Accounting Standards Board, gets paid by European Union member states, but not by the Commission. However, Europe’s Internal […]

U.K. regulator the Financial Services Authority has given company directors a brief amnesty to comply with its disclosure rules on shares used as loan security, after admitting the rules had caused “uncertainty.” In a statement issued to clarify its position, the FSA said a director who wants to use company shares as security has to […]

Many European Union financial companies—including a majority of the biggest ones – have decided not to apply a relaxed accounting rule that would allow them to shelter assets from a fair value write-down. But those that have used the get-out have not disclosed enough about what they are doing, according to an analysis by regulators. […]

The European Commission has extended a ruling that permits companies from the United States and five other countries to file accounts under their own national GAAPs, rather than having to use International Financial Reporting Standards, which are mandatory for European public companies. When the trading bloc made IFRS reporting mandatory for companies listed on any […]

European companies need to improve their reporting of non-financial information, according to the umbrella group that represents Europe’s national accountancy bodies. Brussels-based FEE (the Fédération des Experts comptables Européens) said reporting on issues such as sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility met the letter of recently introduced European legal requirements, but not necessarily their spirit. A […]

The European Commission has published its plans to impose tougher regulation on credit rating agencies, including restrictions on the kind of services they can provide. Most rating agencies already followed a voluntary code agreed on in 2004 by the International Organization of Securities Commissions, but this self-regulation had failed, Commission officials say. Legal supervision was […]

Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, considered resigning last month after coming under intense pressure from European Commission officials to retreat on fair-value accounting rules. The Commission wanted IASB to ease its rules relating to the valuation of financial instruments, to help banks weather the financial crisis. The Board did make […]