Europe’s private equity industry has offered to follow a new set of professional standards, including a corporate governance code, in an effort to fend off the prospect of tougher regulation from the European Commission. But the European Venture Capital Association’s proposed reforms are still based on a self-regulatory approach. It wants to create its own […]
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Study: Legal, Regulatory Responses to Pay Rule Concerns
With governments around the world taking action to clamp down on “excessive” executive pay, companies will find it increasingly difficult to maintain a consistent approach to remuneration policy compliance, according to law firm Clifford Chance. The firm has published a briefing note that analyzes the legal and regulatory response to concerns about pay levels in […]
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Europe Puts Audit Inspection Plan on Hold, Blames U.S.
The European Commission has suspended plans that it says would improve the regulation of audit firms, citing a lack of cooperation from the U.S. Charlie McCreevy, the commissioner for the internal market and services, circulated a draft decision in January that would let Europe’s national audit regulators cooperate with their counterparts in the U.S., Japan, […]
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Failure of Trust Between EU Financial Regulators
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 […]
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McCreevy Wants Commission to Start Funding IASB
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 […]
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FSA Grants Amnesty for Disclosure Rules
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 […]
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Europe’s Big Banks Slow on Fair-Value Opt-out
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. […]
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Europe Extends IFRS Opt-Out for U.S. and Others
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 […]
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Europe Needs Better Non-financial Reporting
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 […]
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Euro Gov. Guru: Don’t Fuel Compliance Culture
Creating more rules and regulations is no way to fix the governance flaws and management failings exposed by the financial crisis, the architect of the European Union’s governance framework has warned. That would only fuel a growing “compliance culture” and make the situation worse. Instead, companies should focus on changing the behavior of individual employees, […]