Search Results for: United Nations

BY KEITH NUTHALL and EMMA JACKSON

IF the competition to build gas pipeline networks from Russia, the Caucasus and central Asia to central and western Europe were a horserace, commentators would say it was still too close to call.

For although politicians and diplomats in Brussels, Moscow and other European capitals would never admit it publicly, these multi-million investment projects are contests of power and influence.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

IT has long been outmoded and inaccurate to split the world into two camps: industrialised developed economies, and largely agricultural developing countries. The growth of the 1990s and the current decade means there is a wide range of social and economic sophistication and wealth amongst the poorer of these two old-fashioned categories.…

BY RUSSELL BERMAN

A SERIES of financial regulatory reforms have been proposed for the United States in the aftermath of the vast Ponzi scheme executed by Bernard Madoff – a failure of oversight and enforcement that led to steep criticism of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE FINAL shape of the European Union’s (EU) third energy packaging and its varied options on unbundling has generated concern, especially amongst acolytes of full scale liberalisation. The debates over this legislation have pitted countries such as France, with a mercantilist approach that a borderless market is an opportunity for local, especially large, companies; and liberalisers such as the Dutch and the British seeing the union as a massive market in which the fittest thrive, from whatever country.…

BY DOMINIQUE PATTON

DEMAND for halal cosmetics worldwide is on the rise, driven not only by more affluent Muslim consumers but also growing interest in high quality, safe products.

Sales of all kinds of halal-certified goods have surged in recent years alongside higher purchasing power in Muslim countries.…

BY PHILIPPA JONES

AS the global recession continues, calls for greater transparency in the financial sector have increased exponentially. The recent G20 summit of leaders from the world’s richest economies made this sentiment clear and drew specific attention to the need for all countries to adhere to international standards on anti-money laundering, with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) being asked to "reinvigorate" its assessment of potentially erring jurisdictions.…

BY JULIAN RYALL

JAPAN’S accounting industry has broadly welcomed the proposals that have emerged from the G20 meeting in London last week as "important" and "positive," but warned that there needs to be more action to back up the words if there are to be meaningful improvements in financial controls that transcend international borders.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

THE BILLION US dollar scandal involving India’s Satyam Computer Systems has been an extreme case of corporate fraud illustrating sheer brazenness and masterful avoidance of regulatory checks and balances. Raghavendra Verma outlines its misdeeds and reports on its criminal investigation from New Delhi.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

IF there was a year when long-term textile and clothing market forecasters missed by a mile, 2008 was it. Forecasts made in 2007 were dominated by looming concerns about trade restrictions, investment in technology, a potential slow-down of production and a consolidation of business investment but no one predicted what devastating effects an unexpected recession would have on the textiles and apparel sector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, LEAH GERMAIN and MONICA DOBIE

MAYBE the best sign that renewable energies have hit the mainstream is that they now have their very own international organisation: the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Launched in Bonn, Germany, this January, with the support of 76 countries, including its host nation, Spain, Italy, France and Sweden, the roster of signatory nations has since been swollen by India and Belarus.…