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Adaptable businesses best placed to beat recession

Almost half (49 per cent) of Scottish business leaders polled by BDO believe the UK Government should make concessions to the small, dynamic businesses best placed to adapt to the post-recessionary economic environment

SEC agrees to continue convergence on accounting standards

The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted to issue a statement that lays out its position regarding global accounting standards and makes clear that the Commission continues to believe that a single set of high-quality globally accepted accounting standards would benefit US investors

ICAS publishes ‘Making Corporate Reports Readable’

It is a view that few, if any, would argue with. The annual reports of listed companies have become too complex and focused on compliance, rather than providing useful information on the business to investors

ICAS launches CA Conference 2010 – early booking recommended!

Following the success of the 2008 CA Conference, ICAS is returning to Gleneagles on 9-10 September this year

Scottish economy’s weak recovery subject to considerable risk

The latest University of Strathclyde Fraser of Allander Economic Commentary, supported by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), says Scotland’s economy should return to positive growth in 2010, but risks going into a double-dip recession

Tax experts disappointed with FII GLO tax ruling

Tax experts have expressed disappointment after a class action victory challenging the taxation of dividends to UK companies from overseas businesses was severely limited

Lloyds Banking Group to drop Scottish charitable funder

Lloyds Banking Group has been described as “vindictive, bullying and aggressive” after revealing it is to walk away from a covenant to fund a charitable foundation it set up, unless trustees agree to a reduced contribution

IFAC survey shows support from accountants for spread of global standards

The spread of global standards remains front of mind for accountants across the world, according to a global survey of accountants released by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)

FSA returns £270,000 to victims of share fraud

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has recovered approximately £270,000 as a result of action taken against companies involved in a share fraud activity

More support from private equity for media and communications

Media and communications companies can expect a significant increase in activity from private equity companies over the next 12 months, according to Grant Thornton UK's latest Private Equity Barometer, a quarterly survey of more than 100 private equity executives

Lloyds Banking Group boss to waive £2.3m bonus

The chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, Eric Daniels, has become the latest banking boss to bow to public pressure and waive his bonus for 2009, estimated at £2.3m

Resignations on the up as firms fail to meet expectations

Resignations have increased in the year to February 2010, despite growing fears over job security, according to the 2010 National Management Salary Survey, published by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI)

Late rush to beat 50p tax deadline

A last-minute rush to accelerate the payment of bonuses ahead of April’s introduction of the 50p tax rate for high earners is underway

RBS chief to give up £1.6m bonus for 2009

Stephen Hester, chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, is to waive his bonus for 2009, as pressure mounts on the lossmaking UK state-owned bank to show humility amid the continuing backlash against bankers

Public sector needs new set of leadership skills

The new age of austerity will demand leadership at all levels of the public sector, according to a report by Deloitte

Economists back delay on government spending cuts

More than 60 senior economists have signed two open letters that back the Chancellor's decision to delay government spending cuts until 2011

Overseas business trips fall sharply

Overseas business trips by UK residents fell sharply in 2009, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Deal values and volume in the consumer products sector hit three-year low in Q4 2009

A report from Ernst & Young shows that deal volumes in the consumer products (CP) sector fell to a three-year low in Q4 of 2009, but that the number of significant deals already announced this year suggests that the sector may have reached the bottom of the market will start to recover over the course of 2010

Tax exiles may have to pay back taxes after ruling

Wealthy UK citizens living abroad as tax exiles may find they have to pay UK taxes after all, after the Court of Appeal upheld the right of HM Revenue & Customs to tax a businessman, Robert Gaines-Cooper, who has lived in the Seychelles since 1976

British businesses reluctant to mitigate financial market risks

Almost nine in ten British businesses say they have no hedging strategies in place despite increasing concerns about financial market risks and their potential negative impact, according to the Business Risk Report from Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets

Councils urged to share services

Councils need to "think radically" to cope with budget cuts including sharing services, according to a new report from the Accounts Commission for Scotland

ASB receives over 150 submissions on future of UK GAAP

The Accounting Standards Board (ASB) of the FRC says it has received more than 150 high quality responses to its policy proposal to replace UK GAAP

Chartered status for internal auditors

The professional body which represents over 8000 internal auditors in the UK and Ireland is to be awarded chartered status, with effect from 1 October this year

Recruiter flags up five "hottest" accounting jobs in 2010

Recruiter Robert Half has drawn up a list of its five most desirable accounting jobs for the year ahead

IASB softens stance on adoption of IFRS

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has said it will promote the adoption of IFRS, but that convergence is “not an objective in itself”

UK bank Barclays reports profits up 92 per cent to £11.6bn

Banking giant Barclays has seen its full-year profits increase by 92 per cent to £11.6bn in 2009, although that figure was boosted by the sale of its BGI fund management arm to US firm BlackRock last year

IoD says banks still not meeting lending demand

The Institute of Directors (IoD) says nearly 60 per cent of businesses seeking loans in 2009/10 were rejected by their bank, and one in five are financing their day-to-day activities to some extent with credit cards

Jobs market still on the ropes

More redundancies and a substantial fall in employment in the public sector marks a difficult quarter for the jobs market, despite the UK’s emergence from recession

Deloitte and PwC debate how banks account for losses

Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers have reignited the debate over the way that banks account for losses, which could threaten agreement on a global set of accounting standards by the middle of next year, an aim of the group of 20 nations

Financial transactions tax ‘could raise £100bn’

A 0.005 per cent tax on currency exchanges and derivatives could be implemented straight away and would raise £100 bn a year globally towards reducing government deficits and tackling poverty, according to a report by a coalition of organisations backing a financial transactions tax.

EU ducks specific cash pledge over Greek crisis

Yesterday’s European Union summit talks resulted in a promise to help Greece, which is facing a debt crisis that threatens to destabilise the eurozone. The announcement did not, however, include any details on the amount or timing of cash aid for the Greek government

BT promises to tackle £9bn pension deficit

Telecoms giant BT will close the £9bn deficit in its pension scheme over the next 17 years, in a deal agreed with the scheme’s trustee, but the company has admitted that The Pensions Regulator still has “substantial concerns” over the scheme

Diageo hits out at UK tax regime

Diageo would consider quitting the UK over personal and corporate tax rates, according to its chief executive Paul Walsh

CBI warns over Scottish rates revaluation

Six out of ten businesses in Scotland will see their rate bills fall from 1 April when the latest commercial property revaluation comes into effect, according to the Scottish Government. But CBI Scotland is warning that, without a phased approach, some businesses face double-digit rises

Keep it simple, says GAA

The world’s leading accounting bodies have published a report calling for more “simplicity and usefulness” in financial reporting

Bank warns of rising inflation in short term

Inflation in the UK is set to rise above 3 per cent in the coming weeks, according to the Bank of England

Accounting policies ‘like Dr Who’, report says

Three quarters of companies reported accounting policy changes in 2009/10, according to a study by Deloitte of half-yearly financial reporting

Pension scheme deficits rise sharply

The combined deficit of the 7,400 direct benefit pension schemes covered by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) went up by more than 57 per cent in January, to a total of £51.9bn

Myners slates City greed and poor governance

Lord Myners, financial services secretary to the Treasury, laid into apathetic institutional investors and corporate greed at a seminar on governance hosted by the National Association of Pension Funds

Sants set to step down from FSA role

The Financial Services Authority has announced that Hector Sants will leave the organisation in the summer of 2010, after three years as chief executive officer

Retailers frozen out in worst January for 15 years

Bad weather contributed to a grim January for retailers, according to statistics compiled by the British Retail Consortium and KPMG

Grant Thornton takes on media specialist

Grant Thornton UK has boosted its media sector team with the acquisition of specialist firm Aulren, the market leader in the film royalty auditing business

Fresh warning over tax code errors

HMRC has issued a further warning over problems in a new IT system for National Insurance and PAYE that could mean taxpayers being issued with the wrong codes

MPs say Europe’s carbon trading scheme is too generous

The latest report on carbon emissions trading from the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee says tighter limits will be necessary in order to tackle global warming

Corporate insolvencies up in Scotland, down in England and Wales

The latest figures from the Insolvency Service show that Scottish corporate insolvencies for the last quarter of 2009 were up 20 per cent on the last quarter, in contrast to a slight fall (1.7 per cent) in England and Wales

Bank calls time on ‘quantitative easing’

The Bank of England has decided against further quantitative easing (QE), the policy designed to stimulate growth in the UK economy

Beware of taxmen bearing gifts, warns PwC

Email promises of hefty tax rebates from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) may be a sophisticated scam, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers

MBO for Aberdeen accountancy firm

Aberdeen-based firm, Acumen Accountants and Advisors, has been sold for an undisclosed sum in a management buy-out. The MBO has been led by directors Steven McKenzie, Ross Murray and James Smith, who now have ambitions to grow the company's footprint throughout Scotland and strengthen its position as one of Scotland’s leading East Coast firms

ICAS says timescale for change to UK reporting regime is unrealistic

Plans to adopt a three-tiered structure for financial reporting in the UK, based on a concept of public accountability, are sensible, but the proposed timescale in which to do so is unrealistic. That’s the view of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland in its submission to the Accounting Standards Board Consultation ‘The Future of UK GAAP’

£41bn reasons why Scotland’s corporate debt is still a concern

As the UK moves out of recession, a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers in Scotland, supported by the University of Strathclyde’s Fraser of Allander Institute, reveals that while levels of corporate debt in Scotland are slowly improving, borrowing facility needs at the end of 2009 remain in the region of £38bn to £41bn

UK extends car scrappage scheme

The UK car scrappage scheme is to be extended for a further month.

KPMG welcomes convergence between accounting standards

KPMG in Scotland has lent its support to the proposal by the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) of further convergence between UK and international financial reporting standards, in its response to the ASB’s latest consultation on the future of UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (UK GAAP)

French Duncan takes hit over free advice

French Duncan has been forced to ditch thousands of hours of chargeable time to clients to nurse them through the economic downturn and inevitably, this has had an impact on profitability, according to Robert Kerr, the Scottish mid-tier firm’s managing partner

NIESR calls for stability before cuts

The UK should wait until its economy has stabilised before moving to cut spending, according to the latest quarterly forecast from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR)

FRC issues guidance for auditors on XBRL

The Auditing Practices Board, part of the Financial Reporting Council, has issued guidance for auditors where financial statements have been tagged for XBRL purposes

Global corporates are tiptoeing cautiously into 2010

A survey of senior executives at nearly 900 major companies worldwide by Ernst & Young reveals a very different business environment compared to 12 months ago, but highlights a corporate world that for the most part is still nervous about recovery

Online tax returns hit new record

The number of people filing their self-assessment tax returns online hit another record this year, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)

ICAS puts cross-selling under spotlight

The audit committees of listed companies should make public, clear and detailed information to explain to shareholders, how decisions regarding the provision of non-audit services by the company’s external auditor are made, and their process for ensuring the independence of the auditor

Political interference ‘now greatest risk to global banking industry’

The greatest risk now facing the banking industry is not financial but political, according to the Banking Banana Skins survey conducted by the CSFI think tank, in association with PricewaterhouseCoopers?

2010 a critical year for IFRS, says Ernst and Young

2010 will be a critical year for the progression of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), says Ernst and Young, with Canada, India and much of South America beginning their conversion to IFRS

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