Moody’s lowered the UK’s government bond rating to Aa1 from Aaa about a year after it warned investors that weak economic growth was hampering the UK’s ability to reduce its debt and deficit.
Brazil, Russia, India and China are losing some of their attractiveness, and multinational companies have started to look for the next global growth hot spots, a global Ernst & Young survey suggests. Find out how selecting new markets has changed.
Threats that keep top experts and high-level leaders up at night are the risks that are beyond any one company or even one nation to handle. A report from the 2013 World Economic Forum lists the most likely ones with the biggest damage potential.
In governance regimes where executive directors are the norm, CFOs get a useful first taste of the boardroom. The next step is to broaden that experience beyond their own companies by taking on non-executive director roles. Two executives offer tips on making the transition.
Emerging, relentless cybersecurity threats pose a significant danger to organizations that are unprepared to detect and deter them, according to a new global survey. Known as advanced persistent threats, these attacks are not easily deterred by traditional controls.
New regulation and severe weather events in the past few years are driving companies around the globe to pay more attention to enterprise risk management. Find out what threats worry executives the most and how existing ERM programmes could be improved.
Economists and businesses around the world are paying closer attention to risks related to extreme weather. New storms and statistics serve as a reminder for businesses: It’s a mistake to think that disasters only strike somewhere else, and it never hurts to plan for the worst.
Compensation for corporate boards rose slightly in Europe, but the pay gap between men and women increased. A Hay Group survey of 390 public companies in 12 countries showed that while more women are joining corporate boards, they’re still behind in compensation.
Research by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and KPMG shows that in Canada and the US, the smallest companies carry the heaviest burden.
A consultation report released by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is designed to help regulators improve their supervision of securities firms to protect the assets of clients of those firms.
US companies considering the sale of a business are increasingly shifting their focus from meeting financial needs to meeting corporate strategic goals. But not enough are following the tactical considerations necessary to get the highest price or close the deal fast.
Although corporate boards are frequently reviewing CEO succession plans, practices vary widely with respect to who holds primary responsibility for oversight of these plans, a new survey of corporate secretaries shows. Responsibilities are split between the full board, the compensation committee and the nominating/governance committee.
While contingency planning for macroeconomic events remains a concern for internal auditors, another hot spot is strategy creation and execution. Research by the Corporate Executive Board details the top areas of concern for the next year. Strategy is an important one: Companies want to grow, but they often lack confidence in strategic decisions, fail to act quickly or fail to communicate how those decisions affect employees.
Global economic uncertainty, government response to debt and deficit, and overregulation are among the most worrisome things to CEOs these days, according to PwC’s annual global CEO survey. Find out what strategies they’re employing to protect their companies from the effects of each.
The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB), one of many organisations attempting to tackle this challenge, has issued a consultation paper, A Framework for Audit Quality, that it hopes will generate discussion and actions that will improve audits.
The senior executives often are the ones who make headlines when they act in ways that damage their companies. But behavioural risk to organisations actually decreases as seniority increases at the manager and professional level, according to new international research performed by talent measurement solutions provider SHL.
In the past six years, women joined boards of directors of S&P 1500 companies in increasing numbers, diversifying the boards’ expertise, skill sets and viewpoints. But one-fourth of boards still did not have women directors in 2012.
Ernst & Young research identified four areas in which high-performing companies did a better job handling the challenges of the harsh global economic conditions. Find out what lessons can be learned from high performers worldwide.
Companies doing business in Europe should prepare for a “lost decade,” new research suggests. Facing stagnant economic growth, low consumer demand and limited access to credit, companies must be prudent but they can’t miss out on opportunities.
The global IT governance group ISACA is drawing attention to three trends it says will “pose major challenges to businesses” in 2013. Cybersecurity threats are growing more sophisticated; interest in private or hybrid clouds, rather than public clouds, is expected to increase; and employees and consumers are growing more concerned about data privacy.
