The government is failing to cut the true cost of regulation, because its £10bn target is too narrowly defined and it does not have a clear overall picture of the costs business face, according to the National Audit Office (NAO) 

The first year of new UK disclosure rules did not curb CEO pay or enhance the link between CEO pay and performance at FTSE 100 companies, but rather saw companies opting to ‘cherry pick’ information which would enhance their reputation, according to recent academic research

The environmental charity Friends of the Earth (FoE) has lost a bid to reclaim £1m in VAT related to street fundraising costs, after a First Tier Tribunal (FTT) ruled that money given by supporters as a result of this activity amounted to a donation, rather than a payment for the supply of benefits which included a glossy magazine

PwC is predicting a potential 20-fold increase for the UK’s five most prominent ‘sharing economy sectors’, which includes on-demand professional services,  resulting in £140bn of transactions by 2025, and says the UK needs to ensure it holds on to its leading position as a platform provider

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand have announced a strategic alliance that will improve reach, relevance and resources for members

Jonathan Hill, the UK’s EU commissioner in charge of financial services, has announced he is to stand down following the UK’s referendum on continued EU membership, which resulted in a vote to leave

PwC has picked up the role of external auditor to high street retailer Next, which has announced that changes in the regulations around audit rotation mean it is ending a relationship of more than 20 years with EY

Chancellor George Osborne has made his first public announcement since the UK’s referendum on leaving the EU, seeking to reassure the markets as a snap poll by the Institute of Directors (IOD) found that two thirds of members regard the result as negative for their business

An updated version of the Due Process Handbook has been published by the trustees of the IFRS Foundation to include the development and maintenance of the IFRS Taxonomy, including giving the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) a role in the review and approval

The US regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says it has obtained an emergency court order to freeze the assets of a UK resident charged with intruding into the online brokerage accounts of US investors to make unauthorized stock trades that allowed him to profit on trades in his own account

The Asia-Pacific has taken the lead position as the region with the most high net worth individual (HNWI) wealth and population and wealth management firm’s net income could be at risk due to lack in digital capabilities, according to Capgemini’s 20th annual world wealth report (WWR)

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is to announce its decision on whether or not it will formally investigate KPMG’s work as auditors to HBOS in the run up to the bank’s collapse in 2007 ‘as soon as possible’, having originally said it would come to a conclusion by the spring