Finance & Investment News

The FSA has recommended proposals for implementing aspects of the Payment Services Directive (PSD), which require countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) to regulate payment services. Under the PSD, FSA will be responsible for the authorisation and registration requirements and will need to make a small number of Handbook changes to: apply its complaints handling rules to payment services firms; change the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service so that it can perform the out-of-court redress function required by the PSD; and introduce an approach to enforcing the Payment Services Regulations that mirrors its general approach to enforcement under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA).

Tagged: finance investment, governance

Research executed for IR magazine’s Investor Perception Study Continental Europe 2008/2009 (to be published in mid-October 2008) has revealed that companies in continental Europe are failing to provide adequate guidance to analysts and investors. About 50 percent of buy-side respondents and 60 percent of sell-side respondents have claimed that they were not receiving the specific information they need. The research found that the economic climate has led to a fall in future forecasting and reports of the lack in forward planning or risk assessment by companies across Europe.

Tagged: finance investment

The FTSE is to hold an annual review of country classification on 18 September. The results of the review will move equity markets between Developed, Advanced Emerging, Secondary Emerging, or Frontier status and will add or remove these markets from the FTSE Watch List. The FTSE will also publish an updated assessment of all markets contained within the FTSE Global Equity Index Series against FTSE’s country classification criteria to help investors get a brief on the progress across developed, emerging and Frontier markets.

Tagged: finance investment

The SEC has issued a proposed roadmap that could lead to the use of IFRS by U.S. issuers by 2014. However, the decision to adopt IFRS would be taken in 2011 after considering public interest and investors’ benefit. The proposal is the outcome of the growing integration of world capital markets that is increasing the need for the use of a common accounting language to improve transparency of financial reporting worldwide.

Tagged: finance investment

The SEC has voted unanimously to update and modernise disclosure requirements for foreign companies to help U.S. investors acquire timely financial information. The rule amendments will give investors an instant electronic access to foreign company disclosure documents on the internet, eliminating the requirement for foreign companies without SEC-registered securities to submit paper disclosures. The commission has adopted a set of rule amendments, two of them being: Foreign Issuer Reporting Enhancements, which update Securities Exchange Act filing requirements; and amendments concerning Exchange Act Rule 12g3-2(b), which will allow certain exemptions to a foreign private issuer.

Tagged: finance investment, governance

The IMA has responded to CESR’s call for introducing a management company passport, by stating that it would be “too burdensome” and would take away the cost benefits of having such a passport. The association has warned against imposing dual control of the management company's activities by both its home state supervisor and the supervisor of the fund's Member State. It has called CESR to analyse the division of duties between the management company supervisor and the fund supervisor, and determine the requirements needed to conduct their duties effectively.

Tagged: finance investment

The SEC has revealed a new system “IDEA” (Interactive Data Electronic Applications) as a successor to the agency’s 1980s-era EDGAR database. The system is expected to give investors faster and easier access and latest financial information about public companies and mutual funds in a form that they can readily use. Unlike EDGAR, which required investors to sift through one form at a time and then re-keyboard the information, IDEA would help investors to instantly collate information across thousands of companies and create reports. Companies’ interactive data filings are expected to be available through IDEA beginning late this year.

Tagged: finance investment

The IASB has issued proposals to simplify the calculation of Earnings Per Share (EPS) by eliminating differences between methods required by IFRSs and US accounting standards to calculate the same. Measures proposed to achieve this convergence are: providing a clear principle to determine which instruments should be included in the EPS calculation; clarifying the EPS calculation for particular instruments, such as contracts to sell or repurchase an entity’s own shares and participating instruments; and simplifying the EPS calculation for instruments that are accounted for at fair value through profit or loss.

Tagged: finance investment

An analysis by Compliance Week has revealed that the number of material weaknesses reported by large companies have reduced in the past two years. Compliance Week reviewed the internal control disclosures revealed by more than 400 companies in the S&P 500 in 2007. It found that only 11 companies had disclosed a total of 14 material weaknesses as compared to 900 material weaknesses disclosed by hundreds of companies in 2006. This improvement has demonstrated the evidence that Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley has helped companies’ internal control over financial reporting.

Tagged: finance investment

The European Commission has taken a decision to grant transitional period for the registration requirements for audit firms from 30 non-EU countries. The decision will grant these 30 third country audit firms a transitional period until 1 July 2010 as they conduct their audit activities for third country companies listed in European market. However, the transition will only be granted to firms that comply with the minimum information requirements necessary for investors in Europe. The decision also clarifies the how the competent authorities in Member States should deal with third country audit firms under the Statutory Audit Directive.

Tagged: finance investment