INTRODUCTION

ACCOUNTING used to be restricted to financially measurable matters of profit and loss; expenditure and revenue; taxes and subsidies; investment and liabilities. But the mathematical and statistical skills underpinning a solid set of books and filed accounts are today increasingly being used to measure the environmental and social sustainability of a product, input, production process and supply chain.…

Higher education institutions are being warned they could be a target for money laundering, with fees being financed by the proceeds of crime, including corruption, which might also buy property, cars and other items for students.

The problem has been highlighted in a series of reports.…

The new National Security Law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong last June (2020) (1) has added a new dimension to money laundering requirements in the special administrative region (SAR), as banks and other institutions now find themselves required to flag cash movements by figures deemed as ‘secessionist’ under the new law.…

European Union (EU) law enforcement, perhaps emboldened by the launch of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), has launched a series of cases and inquiries, including against high-ranking politicians accused of corruption. For example, Gabrijela Žalac, Croatia’s regional development and EU funds minister from 2016-9, and three accomplices, have been arrested, on EPPO orders, for alleged fraud regarding the purchase by her ministry of deliberately overpriced software for a public company.…

The Polish can manufacturing and filling industry continues to attract attention from major buyers and investors from around the world, aware that this strong and innovating national sector is able to rely on a strong, reliable workforce.

Global beverage giant PepsiCo, for example, has been drawn to the Polish can manufacturing industry.…

The executive director of the Chamber of the Textile and Apparel Industry, of El Salvador (CAMTEX – Cámara de la Industria Textil) has told Just Style how her manufacturing hub is seizing market opportunities growing as Covid-19 ebbs.

Patricia Figueroa, who has been in her job since 2015, also highlighted the challenges the Salvadoran clothing and textile industry will tackle in 2021-22, with CAMTEX’s help.…

Sub-Saharan Africa has natural resources that aids the development of renewable energy, it has lots of sun, plentiful wind, and much potentially sustainable biomass. With the development of small-scale affordable renewable energy technologies, such systems have been promoted by major aid agencies keen to prevent deforestation and excessive reliance on fossil fuels, that – even where they are plentiful, have not usually led to widespread economic development.

The huge offshore finance leak unveiled last month (October 3) by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has highlighted the risks major companies face when doing business in offshore jurisdictions. Keith Nuthall and Andreia Nogueira report.

Major companies undertaking international business must comply with increasingly tough beneficial ownership transparency laws, and risk reputational damage if they are associated with particularly elaborate devices to avoid tax, even if it is legal.…

Global supply chain delivery delays and price tensions continue to disrupt Italy’s otherwise robust food can production sector. With profit margins squeezed, food canners expect prices to rise across the board for these long shelf-life food staples

According to Italian can manufacturing industry association ANFIMA’s most recent data, Italy produced 698,523 tonnes of rigid metal packaging (tinplate and steel) and 24,745 tonnes of aluminium packaging in 2020, up 3.6% and 7% from the same period the previous year, respectively.…

While the Arab world certainly has a political culture of its own, there are many universal human truths that its politics shares with the rest of the globe, even if – perhaps – tensions can be more intense in this region than others.…