The importance of interest rates I have written many times of the persistent but forlorn attempts by central bankers to “stimulate” growth in their countries’ flagging economies by applying the twin practices of quantitative easing (QE) and lowering interest rates. It has been clear for years that these policies simply do not work. The only […]

Blindness of French labour laws When I was recently on holiday in the South of France the socialist government of Francois Hollande was obliged to take the unusual step of by-passing democratic means of getting his labour reform measures into law. He resorted to the rarely invoked “executive power”, to force through changes in labour […]

Woolf: clamping down on share of non-audit services As new audit regulations take effect with the introduction of the EU Audit Regulations and Directive (ARD) into UK legislation, Emile Woolf FCA emphasises the need for renewed rigour in governance and auditor oversight 29 Jul 2016 Emile Woolf FCA, chartered accountant View profile and articles. Governance […]

This letter and my article in June 2016 “Accountancy” was followed by the interesting correspondence referred to in my posting of 10th December 2016.   Sir Fat-Cat Pay – the cause On July 11 you published an article by Theresa May in which she highlighted the anomaly of the FTSE trading at the same level […]

Governance is more than regulation, which is its servant. Every public interest entity (‘PIE’), operating for the benefit of stakeholders and employees, functions within a regulatory structure that balances operational freedom, risk and cost. Finding and maintaining a lasting balance between these potentially competing elements is the province of good governance, and ensuring its effectiveness […]

RISING TO THE CHALLENGE ‘ACCOUNTANCY’ [JULY 2016] During the 2008 financial crisis several banks and other lending and deposit-taking institutions collapsed without a hint of warning from their auditors. Since that time pressure to improve the quality of annual audits has been building up, and by the time you read this, new EU Audit Regulations […]

  “Accountancy” February 2016 Hercules managed to clean out the Augean stables in a single day. We could do with a Hercules to clean up today’s money-grubbing world – although he may need a little longer: FIFA sleaze; athletics doping scandals; Volkswagen’s emissions-test cheating; drug manufacturer’s bribery charges; leading banks charged with mis-selling, rule-bending and […]

‘ACCOUNTANCY’ – JUNE 2016 The term “creative accounting” always carries the pejorative implication that accepted accounting rules are being manipulated to make trading results over a defined period appear to be better (never worse!) than warranted by facts. Perennial rule-tightening is like painting the Forth Bridge – the job is never done. Standards, the building […]

Hercules managed to clean out the Augean stables in a single day. We could do with a Hercules to clean up today’s money-grubbing world – although he may need a little longer: FIFA sleaze; athletics doping scandals; Volkswagen’s emissions-test cheating; drug manufacturer’s bribery charges; leading banks charged with mis-selling, rule-bending and facilitating tax-dodging. How many […]

Regulatory scrutiny is an expensive waste of time and money if it focuses on the form but completely misses the substance. One wonders about the quality of diligence that preceded (and the audit work that followed) Olympus’s takeover of the UK Gyrus Group, when so-called “advisory payments” of $687 million, one-third of the entire acquisition […]