Recently published reports - Wendy Alexander & HMRC

Two recently published reports are mentioned in today's press and might be of interest.

The first is the report from the Scottish Parliament's Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee into the complaint against Wendy Alexander, MSP which can be found on the Scottish Parliament website. The Herald has an article on the report.

The second is the report by Kieran Poynter, Chairman and Senior Partner of PwC, into the loss of personal data at HMRC. Entitled "Review of information security at HM Revenue and Customs" it is available on the Treasury website. The FT today has an interesting article leading on from the report which looks at the importance of getting the structure right in merged organisations.

IPPR report on the Barnett Formula

A new report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) "Fair shares? Barnett and the politics of public expenditure" calls for tax devolution to Scotland to end 'tension' over the funding system. The Herald today has a substantial article as well as an op-ed on the subject.

Six countries release IFAC convergence reports

The convergence action plans of IFAC members from six countries have been released on the IFAC website. The members are:

Federación Argentina de Consejos Profesionales de Ciencias Económicas;
Botswana Institute of Accountants;
Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants;
Chamber of Auditors of the Czech Republic;
Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya; and
Corpul Expertilor Contabili si Contabililor Autorizati din Romania

More information about the compliance programme is available on the IFAC website

FRC hosts the Charkham Lecture on corporate governance

Professor Ira M Millstein, Senior Associate Dean for Corporate Governance at the Yale School of Management, has called for an international effort to address the problems for corporate governance created by the power and diversity of today’s capital markets and investing organisations at this year's Charkham Lecture: Corporate governance in an era of multiple capital suppliers and exotic capital instruments. The full text of the speech is available on the FRC website.

Regulation of credit rating agencies

There is an interesting op-ed in today's FT by Frank Partnoy, professor at The University of San Diego School of Law called "Do away with ratings-based rules" on the proposed regulation of credit rating agencies. This follows on from the meeting of EU Finance Ministers yesterday. The EU website has an area dedicated to credit rating agencies. The speech by Charlie McCreevy, EU internal market commissioner, last month on regulation is also available.

New Chair at the Professional Oversight Board

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has announced that Dame Barbara Mills will be the next Chair of the Professional Oversight Board and an executive director of the FRC from 1 October 2008. Further details are available on the FRC website.

Arnold Schilder Named to Lead IFAC's International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board

The Board of IFAC has appointed Prof. Dr. Arnold Schilder, RA, to lead the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB), an independent standard-setting board under the auspices of IFAC, beginning January 1, 2009 for a three-year term.
Further information is available in a press release and on the IAASB website.

IASB response to the credit crisis

There is an area on the IASB website which is looking at the credit crunch and the IASB's response. It includes information from meetings, speeches and interviews as well as the recommendations relating to financial reporting from the report by the Financial Stability Forum.

New journals received at the Information Service

New issues of a number of journals were received today. These included A\Plus (the magazine from the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants); Charity Finance; Chartered Accountants Journal of New Zealand; Director; Governance ; Management Today; and, The Treasurer.