News @ 19 January 2012
Auditing / Accounting / Corporate Governance
Olympus panel clears auditing firms of blame in scandal
TOKYO: An unofficial panel of experts cleared global accounting groups KPMG and Ernst & Young of any responsibility for a $1.7 billion accounting fraud at Japan's Olympus Corp on Tuesday, though the role of the firms remained under official review.
The scandal, one of corporate Japan's worst, had raised questions over the role of the two audit firms, which signed off on the accounts of the maker of medical equipment and cameras before the 13-year fraud finally surfaced in October.
Auditing / Accounting / Corporate Governance
Olympus sues 5 in-house auditors for 13 mln USD
TOKYO, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Olympus Corp. said Tuesday it has filed a lawsuit against five current and former in-house auditors for their roles in cover-up of massive investment losses.
The optical equipment maker announced it had filed the case with the Tokyo District Court following receipt of an in-house panel report stating the five named auditors were liable for 8.38 billion yen (110 million U.S. dollars) in losses and demanded that the five pay up to 1 billion yen (13 million U.S. dollars) in damages.
Global economics
China: Food Prices Soar
Number of courses shrinks as people tighten their belts
2012-01-13, By Shi Jing (China Daily)
SHANGHAI - Jiang Qigang likes his food. He says that just three months ago, he would frown and grumble about only having a three-course meal at dinnertime. However, he has been forced to relent and grudgingly make do with the once hard-to-accept arrangement because of soaring food prices.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2012-01/13/content_14435479.htm
Finance / Financial Services / International Finance / Global Economics
Accounting for good practices: why effective risk management matters
Wednesday 18th January 2012, 12:06am
ANDREW LECK
HEAD OF ACCA UK
Andrew Leck, head of ACCA UK looks at why effective risk management matters
THE global attitude towards risk management has changed irrevocably in the last three years.
Yet, despite the increasingly stringent regulatory controls and development of sophisticated financial modelling, at the end of the day, risk management must address the human factor.
http://www.cityam.com/business-features/accounting-good-practices-why-effective-risk-management-matters
Carbon tax / Global Economics / Sustainability
China mulls over carbon tax to reduce dirty energy use
Published on Jan 12, 2012
China's lead negotiator on climate change said on Wednesday that the world's largest emitter is considering imposing a tax on carbon to reduce the use of dirty energy as its economy grows.
Su Wei, on a visit to Washington, said that the fast-developing Asian power was looking at the impact of an outright tax on carbon and whether it would overlap with China's plans for a pilot scheme on carbon emissions trading
Global Economics
Singapore to attract near record investment despite uncertainty, says EDB
18 Jan 2012
SINGAPORE - Investment commitments in Singapore this year will likely remain near the record level last year despite uncertainties in the global economy, the Economic Development Board (EDB) said yesterday.
The EDB, the government agency tasked with promoting Singapore as a business destination, said it expected the country to attract fixed asset investment commitments totalling S$13 billion to S$15 billion this year, compared with a record S$13.7 billion last year.
http://www.todayonline.com/Business/EDC120118-0000084/Singapore-to-attract-near-record-investment-despite-uncertainty,-says-EDB
Auditing / Accounting / Corporate Governance
Olympus considering US$1.2B suit against execs
Japanese company Olympus is considering suing executives embroiled in the US$1.7 billion accounting fraud scandal that was uncovered in October last year, with compensation possibly amounting to 90 billion yen (US$1.2 billion).According to a report Sunday by Reuters, the camera and endoscope maker is looking to recoup losses from current and former executives who have failed to spot the 13-year cover-up, or probe the questionable advisory fees made for the Gyrus Group acquisition amounting to US$687 million, according to an unnamed source.
Auditing / Accounting / Corporate Governance
PwC gets £1.4mil record fine
Saturday, 7 January 2012
LONDON: Top auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been fined a record 1.4mil in Britain for wrongly telling local regulators for seven years that JPMorgan Securities was keeping client money safe.
The successful case brought by the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB) is the latest sign of how regulators are taking a harder line on auditors, seen by policymakers as being too soft on banks in the run-up to the financial crisis.
US court order for Deloitte unit
Friday, 6 January 2012
WASHINGTON: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu CPA Ltd was ordered to appear in a US court after rejecting a demand by the Securities and Exchange Commission for documents related to an investigation of Deloitte’s former client, Longtop Financial Technologies Ltd.
US magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson ruled that D&T Shanghai must explain in court why it hadn’t complied with a subpoena issued in May seeking documents that the regulator claimed were “critical” to its probe of possible fraud at Longtop
