Search Results for: Climate change

THE EUROPEAN Commission has used the momentum created by Europe’s financial crisis to push through legislation on taxation issues that have been politically unpalatable during times of prosperity and growth. But it has not brought European Union (EU) countries’ tax systems closer together through overall harmonisation, to the chagrin of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which still struggle with different systems across EU member states.…

ACCOUNTING firms auditing overseas-listed Chinese companies are keeping a close eye on a draft regulation released by China’s finance ministry on April 29 which would restrict the roles that foreign auditors can play in this work.

This ‘Accounting Firms Cross-border Auditing Service Temporary Regulation’ would prevent accounting firms registered outside mainland China from carrying out au­dits alone for Chinese overseas-listed enterprises, in­cluding overseas listed enterprises with operat­ions in China.…

A SINGLE global standard for automatic information exchange (AIE) between tax authorities worldwide is in the final stages of preparation by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD). G20 finance ministers will consider it in September before sanctioning its implementation.…

China’s paint and coatings industry is feeling the squeeze as economic growth slows, infrastructure investment is scaled back, and competition between local and overseas players intensifies.

Consulting firm Frost & Sullivan estimates the annual compound growth rate of the sector’s market value in China will slow to less than 10% this year, having regularly notched up double-digit growth rates prior to 2013.  …

THE EUROPEAN Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has announced that new reforms and guidance for the European Union’s (EU) new biocidal products regulation, clarifying difficulties discovered in the original legislation.

One amending regulation (334/2014) includes a new definition of biocidal product families, which sub-categorises products by risk and efficacy.…

Energy production and distribution is often the bedrock of sustainable economic development, and for an archipelago such as Indonesia, onsite power and small grids will always be the most sensible option. The government of south-east Asia’s most populous country has released a Masterplan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia’s Economic Development (MP3EI) whose goal is developed economy status by 2025.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission and the EU food and drink trade association FoodDrinkEurope have clashed over whether food taxes change consumer behaviour. The Commission report ‘Food Taxes and their Impact on Competitiveness in the Agri-food Sector’ argued that “non-harmonised taxes on high sugar, salt and fat products such as soft drinks, sweet and salty foodstuffs do induce a reduction of the consumption of the taxed products”.…

White-collar professionals involved in UK organised crime will face up to five years in jail under a new offence promised in the Queen’s Speech, detailing the last legislative programme before a 2015 general election. Ministers hope to prosecute up to 200 lawyers, accountants and other professionals every year as a result of provisions in a serious crime bill unveiled today.…

IN 2012, after years of delays, Brazil instated a new money laundering law, finally bringing this economically vibrant and influential country more or less in line with international standards.  Two years later, what difference has it actually made?    

Brazil’s first official money laundering law (Law 9613) was enacted in 1998.…

Nonwovens are taking on an increasingly important role in creating more sustainable vehicles, particularly in interiors, offering lightweight materials reducing fuel usage, recyclability, and the use of green feedstocks such as plant and waste food material.

The US-based global Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) estimates there was about 560,000 tonnes of nonwovens in global automotive usage in 2013, said Dave Rousse, INDA’s president.…