The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) proposes to increase the work required of auditors when assessing whether an entity is a going concern. The consultation on important revisions to International Standard on Auditing (ISA) (UK) 570 Going Concern  follows concerns about the quality and rigour of audit and well-publicised corporate failures where the auditor’s report failed to highlight concerns about the prospects of entities which collapsed shortly after as well as findings from recent FRC Enforcement cases.  In proposing these revisions, requirements on UK auditors will be significantly stronger than those required by international standards.
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Businesses must learn fast, act quickly and scale rapidly or risk irrelevance. As Airmic launches its conference Tech Hub, Jessica Titherington talks to Fujitsu’s Ketan Parekh about the latest technologies disrupting businesses and transforming risk management. The rapid pace of technological advancements today can seem exciting, unpredictable and daunting in equal measure. Developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are accelerating the convergence of physical and digital spaces, and in doing so they are completely changing the business landscape.
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The Global Privacy Enforcement Network’s (GPEN) annual intelligence gathering operation looked at how well organisations have implemented the core concepts of accountability into their own internal privacy policies and programmes. The joint study, known as the ‘GPEN sweep’, is carried out by data protection regulators across the globe and this year looks at how they have taken responsibility for complying with data protection laws.
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General Administrative Act of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht – BaFin) on the prohibition on establishing and increasing net short positions in shares of Wirecard AG. The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) issues the following: Establishing a net short position as well as increasing an existing net short position with reference to the shares of the company is prohibited.

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The High Court of Justice sentenced Robert John McKendrick to 6 months imprisonment for contempt of court. Mr McKendrick had diverted funds and failed to disclose information about his assets in breach of freezing injunctions obtained by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, said: ‘In this case, Mr McKendrick misled investors and then, in contempt of court, failed to comply with court orders requiring him to properly account for the losses. The FCA will ensure that defendants who mislead investors are held to account to the fullest extent possible.’
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed the introduction of a price cap to protect some of the most vulnerable customers in the UK in the rent-to-own (RTO) sector. The cap will be introduced from 1 April 2019 and will save consumers in the UK up to £22.7 million a year.
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is considering changes to the way in which commission works in the motor finance sector after uncovering serious concerns about the way in which lenders are choosing to reward car retailers and other credit brokers. The findings form part of the final report of the FCA’s work on motor finance are published.
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An authoritative legal-industry report on the current state of artificial intelligence (AI) in contract analysis and data extraction and its applications within the legal community. Leading industry analyst firm Ari Kaplan Advisors was engaged by Seal Software to design and conduct unbiased research, the findings of which provide clarity on how legal departments at large corporations perceive and practically apply AI-driven contract analytics in a broad range of matters.
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Bob Goulooze

In order to create economies of scale, national airline companies are looking for partners. Preferably equal ones but certainly ones that may complement the current services of the flag carrier. In 2004 Air France ‘merged’ with KLM. Since that date troubles began. Air France is the biggest partner in the joint venture with KLM and claimed the lead from day 1. Those who are familiar with the way the French work couldn’t believe in the first place, that this would be a match made in heaven. The French have the patronage system. That is a social inequal relationship between a powerful and less powerful partner. The powerful ‘patron’ renders favors to the subservient one in return for services, adherence, and homage. You don’t have to be culturally savvy to understand that such a patronage relationship is so un-Dutch. At least being at the receiving end. The Dutch have a more ‘equal culture’ in which reaching consensus is the bottom line. Continue reading…

Author : Yogita Khatri

B2C2, an electronic OTC trading firm and crypto liquidity provider, has just got the green light to offer crypto derivatives in the U.K. The London-based firm announced Thursday that its subsidiary B2C2 OTC Ltd. is now authorized and regulated by country’s financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), to arrange and deal in crypto contracts for difference (CFDs). Crypto CFDs allow traders to predict the future price change of specific cryptocurrencies, and in turn, provide an opportunity to make profit in both rising and falling markets by going long or short.
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