What to know about double materiality assessments for ESG initiatives
Double materiality assessments help organizations identify and prioritise ESG topics that matter most, both in terms of their impact on society and the environment, and their financial implications for the business.
EY compliance partner leaves after independence failings prompt regulatory investigation
Four senior partners at Big Four accountancy firm Ernst & Young, including a leader in the firm’s compliance function, have left the company because of spiralling repercussions from a costly compliance failure.
Five questions business leaders should be asking in 2026 to manage transformation risk
Working with clients in various sectors over the past year, one thing is clear: Transformation is bigger, faster, and more interconnected. Tech, talent, regulation, and operations—it’s hitting at once.
French investigators target anticompetitive practices in largest accounting firms
Major accountancy firms in France are under investigation for anti-competitive practices. The French competition watchdog embarked on a series of “unannounced inspections” and removed documents relating to audit and reporting on Jan. 13.
SOX was built for humans. AI doesn’t fit that model.
For more than two decades, assurance and compliance frameworks have rested on a simple assumption: Material decisions are made by people. Post‑Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) assurance reset worked because it aligned accountability with human behavior. That assumption shapes how internal controls are designed, how accountability is assigned, and how assurance is ...
CPE Webcast: Hot Topics in Risk and Compliance: AI, Analytics, and Emerging Audit Technologies
Join experts from KPMG, Cisco, and Workiva as they explore how audit, accounting, and finance professionals can leverage a technology mix of data analytics, gen AI, and other tools to ramp up efficiency and strengthen control effectiveness.
FRC’s plans for more flexible enforcement gains support
Plans to give the U.K.’s audit regulator more options to regulate firms for sloppy work have been largely well received by experts, who believe the current system is “inflexible,” “cumbersome,” and “slow.”
The Compliance - Audit gap in ESG and financial reporting
ESG reporting has moved from a voluntary PR exercise to an expectation for regulators and investors, but the compliance audit gap now threatens credibility.
U.K. financial regulator looks to streamline audit enforcement procedures
Auditors are supposed to keep businesses honest, but how much regulation is the optimum for the auditors – and how onerous and punitive should the enforcement regime be? A new consultation by the U.K. regulator, the Financial Reporting Council, opened on Oct. 1 and has put the vexed question of ...
PCAOB’s Christina Ho: How emerging technologies could improve audit quality
Emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced data analytics, can improve audit quality in significant ways. As the regulatory overseer of public-company audits, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has a critical role to play by ensuring that its audit standards evolve as the audit profession evolves.
PCAOB chair Williams latest independent official pushed out by Trump
Continuing a Trump administration practice of firing independent regulators, the head of the Public Accounting Oversight Board has been sent packing.
Communication and relationships is increasingly critical for compliance teams
Compliance is increasingly in the spotlight as companies are tackling everything from artificial intelligence and other new technologies to risk management and mitigation. But it’s soft skills of communication and relationship building that are becoming the most critical tools for success.
A lot of us are misusing AI at work, and it’s putting our companies’ data, reputations at risk
Almost half of employees in a new global survey admitted to improperly using AI at work, underscoring the risks companies face by the fast-growing technology. And that’s despite many of their efforts to slow its use.
States require companies to report greenhouse gas emissions as federal regulators step back
Some companies doing business in California and New York may soon be required to report the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of their operations to state authorities, even as the federal rule for disclosing such emissions is on life support.
FRC fines PwC, auditor combined $4.1M over 2019 work of Wyelands Bank
The U.K. Financial Reporting Council issued penalties against PwC and a former auditor over deficiencies on work related to the 2019 financial statements of now shuttered Wyelands Bank.