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International, Global Issues

Below is some of the most recent Compliance Week coverage of various global regulatory developments. Coverage includes analysis of EU directives, GAAP-IFRS accounting convergence, IASB pronouncements, exchange convergence, and more. Also see our searchable database of global rules, standards and guidance, which includes not only U.S. regulatory bodies like the SEC and FASB, but documents from the International Accounting Standards Board and European Union: Internal Market, as well.

  Title & Description Date Type of Article
1. Global Turmoil Triggers EU Regulatory Reform
In the shadow of the global financial crisis, the European Parliament has plunged into a wholesale overhaul of Europe’s legislation to supervise its financial markets. From banks to insurance companies to credit-rating agencies, all are in the crosshairs of a nearly unanimous call for reform.
 By Jeremy Woolfe
11/18/08 Compliance Week Coverage
2. EC on Fair Value; Sustainability Reporting Rises; More
The European Commission has decided not to make unilateral changes to the way that the fair-value rules in International Financial Reporting Standards are applied in Europe—an idea that would have undermined the authority of the International Accounting Standards Board.
 By Neil Baker
11/11/08 Compliance Week Coverage
3. Japan Moves Closer to International Accounting Standards
The United States is not the only nation moving in fits and starts down the long—long—road to International Financial Reporting Standards. On the other side of the world, Japan is making the same trek, and finding the same experience: A consensus on global accounting standards isn’t easy.
 By Yuriko Nagano
11/11/08 Compliance Week Coverage
4. Cross-Border Securities Regs; FSA on CEO Pay; More
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso has asked a panel of experts to suggest “far-reaching proposals” to improve cross-border securities regulation within the European Union. The aim is to fix failings exposed by the credit crunch.
 By Neil Baker
10/21/08 Compliance Week Coverage
5. FSA Short-Sale Ban; CSA Revamps Exec Pay; ERM; More
British financial firms face a tougher regulatory environment after Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged to “clean up” business practices in the City of London.
 By Neil Baker
10/07/08 Compliance Week Coverage
6. Increased Enforcement of FCPA Violations
Note to compliance officers: If you aren’t already seriously worried about being ensnared by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, you should be.
 By Melissa Klein Aguilar
10/07/08 Compliance Week Coverage
7. China’s SOX: A Pipe Dream at Best
If Chinese authorities could have their way, all public companies in that country would begin complying with “CSOX”—China’s version of governance and financial reporting akin to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the United States—by the middle of next summer, as planned.
 By Richard Meyer
09/30/08 Compliance Week Coverage
8. EU Auditors: EuroSox Misses the Mark
Public companies in the European Union’s 27 member states should be complying with “EuroSox” by the end of the summer to establish a pan-European framework for governance and financial reporting akin to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the United States.
 By Neil Baker
09/16/08 Compliance Week Coverage
9. PwC on Pay; EU Shirks Audit Reform; More
Non-executive directors at British companies are still enjoying tidy pay rises, but the rate of increase has leveled off and directors are expected to work harder for their money, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
 By Neil Baker
09/03/08 Compliance Week Coverage
10. IFRS Adoption: The China Experience
The United States isn’t the only economic superpower finally lurching into the global accounting age. On the other side of the world, China is doing much the same.
 By Richard Meyer
09/03/08 Compliance Week Coverage
11. When Investigations Hit the BRIC Wall
Massive in land size, population, and economic power, the BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India, and China—are global giants in every sense of the phrase. That includes the potential to give compliance executives giant headaches.
 By Jaclyn Jaeger
08/26/08 Compliance Week Coverage
12. Brits on Pensions, Complexity; Islamic CSR
The British Accounting Standards Board’s controversial proposals to change the way companies treat pension liabilities have come in for further criticism, this time from the Association of Corporate Treasurers, which says the Board has overstepped its bounds.
 By Neil Baker
08/12/08 Compliance Week Coverage
13. Getting the Inside Scoop on Chinese Cos.
Westerners have always found China to be an exotic, mysterious place. When it comes to investigating shady business proposals, elusive employees or outright con-artist schemes, however, those words take on a whole new meaning.
 By Richard Meyer
08/12/08 Compliance Week Coverage
14. U.K. Audit Liability; German Governance Fixes; More
Britain’s Financial Reporting Council has published guidance for company directors on when and how to agree on liability limits with their auditors.
 By Neil Baker
07/22/08 Compliance Week Coverage
15. Data Disasters; Mandatory Carbon Reporting; More
Information security and mishandling of personal information are increasingly important risk areas for organizations, and two reports on a massive data disaster at a U.K. government department show how badly things can go wrong.
 By Neil Baker
07/08/08 Compliance Week Coverage
16. Europe Firms Its Hand Against Insider Trading
When it comes to cracking down on insider trading and similar forms of market abuse, the European Union certainly talks tough. It has introduced high-level directives in recent years to create a pan-European approach to the law in this area.
 By Neil Baker
07/01/08 Compliance Week Coverage
17. FSA Sticks to Its Principles; Board Rules; More
Sir Callum McCarthy, chairman of Britain’s Financial Services Authority, is firing back at critics who say the regulator’s famed principles-based, “soft-touch” approach to supervision may actually be a bit too soft.
 By Neil Baker
06/24/08 Compliance Week Coverage
18. In Europe Too, Cries for Help on Fair Value
American bankers are not the only ones crying for help under controversial new fair-value accounting requirements; European financial institutions, fearful of downward valuations of securities, have some grievances of their own.
 By Jeremy Woolfe
06/24/08 Compliance Week Coverage
19. Brits Rap Insurers’ Controls; Japan Woes; More
The Financial Services Authority has fined a British subsidiary of New York-based American International Group $1 million for failing to operate effective controls in its call centers. The regulator accompanied the fine with a warning to all insurance companies, telling them to make sure they keep on top of call center risks.
 By Neil Baker
06/03/08 Compliance Week Coverage
20. Worker’s Paradise, Compliance Nightmare?
When China enacted its Labor Contract Law last year, reactions ranged from “no big deal” to “the end is near.”
 By Richard Meyer
06/03/08 Compliance Week Coverage
21. FSA Begins Insider Trading Siege; More
The Financial Services Authority has stepped up its efforts to crack down on insider dealing and other kinds of market abuse in London trading.
 By Neil Baker
05/20/08 Compliance Week Coverage
22. Added Compliance for Foreign Investment
The Treasury Department has proposed new rules to bring more order and oversight to foreign investment in U.S. companies. They’re also likely to bring more demands and paperwork to corporate compliance and legal departments.
 By Melissa Klein Aguilar
05/13/08 Compliance Week Coverage
23. Brits on IT Security; Liability Caps in Oz; More
British regulators are warning companies to do more to protect the security of customer data. The Financial Services Authority says financial firms must change their attitude toward data security, as too many customers are falling victim to identity fraud and other types of financial crime. And Information Commissioner Richard Thomas, who polices data protection laws, has said companies need to take the issue more seriously.
 By Neil Baker
05/06/08 Compliance Week Coverage
24. FPIs Generally in Favor of Rule 12(g) Fixes
A Securities and Exchange Commission proposal to give foreign private issuers an easier path to avoiding registration of securities under Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act has drawn mixed reviews from the financial reporting community.
 By Melissa Klein Aguilar
04/29/08 Compliance Week Coverage
25. EU Class Actions; IASB on Pensions; More
The European Union is contemplating more forceful action against companies that violate its antitrust laws, including collective legal actions—although officials there want to avoid what they call the “excesses” of U.S. class-action litigation.
 By Neil Baker
04/22/08 Compliance Week Coverage
26. China Steers Investment Laws to Greener Pastures
The Chinese government is working to combat an environmental crisis largely caused by its own policies. The answers so far: dramatic speeches, jargon-laden white papers, and of course, more policy.
 By Richard Meyer
04/22/08 Compliance Week Coverage
27. Japan to Revise Merger Accounting Rules
Japan is planning a major overhaul of its accounting rules, starting with how to account for mergers and acquisitions. The move is part of a broader effort to stay in step with the United States and Europe as they converge accounting rules worldwide.
 By Yuriko Nagano
04/15/08 Compliance Week Coverage
28. Credit Suisse Control Failings; Corp. Reporting; More
Credit Suisse has revealed that its investigation into the options mispricing that it disclosed last month has uncovered serious internal control failings.
 By Neil Baker
04/08/08 Compliance Week Coverage
29. EU Slaps Microsoft Again; British Audits; SWFs
European Union regulators have shown how tough they can be on companies that fail to comply with its decisions by hitting software giant Microsoft with a record $1.4 billion fine.
 By Neil Baker
03/25/08 Compliance Week Coverage
30. Where Export Controls and Chinese Military Meet
In China, it’s not always easy to tell where private enterprise ends and the public sector begins. That can create problems for Western businesses operating under U.S. law.
 By Richard Meyer
03/18/08 Compliance Week Coverage
31. IASB on Fair Value; German Tax Action; More
The International Accounting Standards Board has launched a project to eliminate the inconsistent methods of fair-value measurement that crop up throughout International Financial Reporting Standards.
 By Neil Baker
03/11/08 Compliance Week Coverage
32. EU Mulls Pension Funding Reforms
The European Union is considering whether new capital-reserves regulations should apply to corporate pension plans—an idea that could force companies to put more cash into their plans.
 By Jeremy Woolfe
03/04/08 Compliance Week Coverage
33. SocGen Fallout; the Brits Get Tough; More
European financial firms can expect a much more unforgiving attitude from regulators following the alleged fraud at French bank Societe Generale, the biggest rogue trading scandal in financial history.
 By Neil Baker
02/20/08 Compliance Week Coverage
34. Merger Changes Hit IFRS; London Listing; More
Businesses that file financial statements according to International Financial Reporting Standards have been warned to study carefully how recent changes to merger accounting under IFRS might affect them.
 By Neil Baker
01/29/08 Compliance Week Coverage
35. China Makes Strides in Regulatory Reform
The past year has been a good one for regulation in China—that is, if “more” means better.
 By Richard Meyer
01/15/08 Compliance Week Coverage
36. Foreign Issuers Take Deregistration Road
Six months ago, overseas companies saddled with listings on U.S. stock exchanges finally won the right to head for the exits. A steady exodus has rolled along ever since.
 By Stephen Taub
01/08/08 Compliance Week Coverage
37. EU Transparency Directive Seeks to Reshape Reporting
The European Union is struggling toward a new Transparency Directive intended to pressure companies to be more forthcoming with the news—good and bad—they must report to investors.
 By Jeremy Woolfe
12/04/07 Compliance Week Coverage
38. Latest FCPA Action Spotlights Foreign Units
Another day, another enforcement action against bribery.
 By Melissa Klein Aguilar
12/04/07 Compliance Week Coverage
39. China’s Top Ten at the Corporate Governance Bottom
The ten largest Chinese companies trading in the U.S. rate poorly when it comes to corporate governance, according to a recent report published by a consultancy that specializes in corporate governance issues.
 By Richard Meyer
11/27/07 Compliance Week Coverage
40. China, Japan Prepare New Antitrust Rules
Companies jockeying for dominant positions in Asian markets, beware: Regulators in China and Japan are launching new efforts to strengthen their antitrust policies.
 By Yuriko Nagano
11/27/07 Compliance Week Coverage
41. Rate Financials Statement on China Listings
Rate Financials Statement on China Listings
 By Compliance Week and by Compliance Week
11/27/07 Compliance Week Coverage
42. UK Companies Act: New Tasks for Directors
Businesses throughout the developed world are under pressure to behave in socially responsible ways, and no doubt many do. But following the introduction of new laws in the United Kingdom, directors of companies registered there will be legally required to think beyond the bottom line. And if they don’t, they could be sued by shareholders, according to another big change introduced at the same time.
 By Neil Baker
11/13/07 Compliance Week Coverage
43. Foreign Shareholders Getting in on U.S. Class Actions
Apparently, even the U.S. legal system is feeling the effects of increased globalization.
 By Melissa Klein Aguilar
11/06/07 Compliance Week Coverage
44. Shareholder Activists Raise Ire at German Proposal
An effort in Germany to keep foreign investors at bay has sparked an uproar among governance activists, who say new legislation to keep the so-called “locusts” in check will also hamper efforts to raise boardroom standards and encourage responsible share ownership.
 By Neil Baker
10/30/07 Compliance Week Coverage
45. Accounting for Brand Differences in IFRS
Your accounting rulebook might say “IFRS” on the label, but lots of people still wonder exactly what they might find inside once they open it up.
 By Jeremy Woolfe
10/23/07 Compliance Week Coverage
46. FCPA Opinions on Hosting Foreign Officials
The Justice Department has released new guidance to help companies understand how they can host foreign officials without running afoul of the anti-bribery Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
 By Compliance Week and by Compliance Week
10/16/07 Compliance Week Coverage
47. U.K. Tries to Co-opt Third-Party Guidance
The United Kingdom’s top corporate regulator has introduced another important phase of its plan to adopt a more principles-based approach to compliance: a new framework for recognizing guidance produced by third parties.
 By Neil Baker
09/25/07 Compliance Week Coverage
48. Japan Takes First Step Into J-SOX World
Corporate Japan and its investors are bracing for a brave new world this week: The nation’s landmark Financial Instruments and Exchange Law—a precursor to Japan’s own Sarbanes-Oxley reforms—finally goes into effect.
 By Yuriko Nagano
09/25/07 Compliance Week Coverage
49. Japan Takes First Step Into J-SOX World
Corporate Japan and its investors are bracing for a brave new world this week: The nation’s landmark Financial Instruments and Exchange Law—a precursor to Japan’s own Sarbanes-Oxley reforms—finally goes into effect.
 By Yuriko Nagano
09/25/07 Compliance Week Coverage
50. The Perils and Risks of Cross-Border Mergers
One might assume that because Europe is so similar to the United States in so many ways, compliance issues would not be too difficult in a trans-Atlantic corporate merger. That assumption would cost you dearly.
 By Richard Meyer
09/18/07 Compliance Week Coverage

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