Europe: Accounting and Audit

Forensic accountants play a crucial role in uncovering financial irregularities, whether in business disputes, litigation, or regulatory matters.

Many family law matters become contentious and emotional. However, whether in a community property state or equitable distribution state, each marital dissolution case has an end in sight, i.e., an equal division or fair distribution of assets, debts and income.

What does it take to uncover white-collar crimes? Investigating white-collar crimes requires specialised expertise, from forensic accounting to digital forensics, corporate intelligence and litigation support.

The UK market continues to experience a mixed economic environment that is driving both restructuring activity and opportunistic dealmaking. Persistent cost pressures, higher borrowing costs than those seen during the previous decade, and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty have placed strain on businesses with leveraged balance sheets or tight cash flow positions. As a result, I have noted that many of my clients are seeking to refinance existing debt, renegotiate contractual arrangements, reduce operating costs, or undertake more formal restructuring processes.

New Belgian legislation introduces stricter payment terms for business-to-business transactions, capping payment periods at 60 days and eliminating contractual flexibility around invoice receipt dates. The Act of 14 August 2021 strengthens protections for creditors by imposing automatic penalties on late-paying debtors, including a 10.5% interest rate and fixed recovery costs, fundamentally reshaping commercial payment practices.

It is a truism in business administration that almost all business entities – right from the small sole trader through to the multinational corporation – need to devote considerable time to generating new business as well as effectively servicing existing client needs. Those elements work in tandem, to help grow the business and to then maintain that customer base.

Earlier this week the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade published the long awaited Modernising Corporate Reporting consultation, seeking views on how the corporate reporting framework in the UK could be modernised to better meet the needs of companies, investors and the wider economy.

The first blog in this series explored the revised professional behaviour framework introduced by the ICAEW and ICAS Codes of Ethics and considered the distinction between professional and personal life.

The Government has confirmed that significant changes to Companies House accounts filing requirements will come into force from 1 April 2028 as part of the implementation of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA).

The Central Bank of Ireland has launched Consultation Paper 171, proposing significant refinements to its domestic actuarial regime and guidance for insurance and reinsurance undertakings. These changes affect the Head of Actuarial Function role, reserving policies, peer review requirements, and various life and non-life specific elements, with the consultation open for submissions until October 2026.

The Central Bank of Ireland has published a consultation on proposed refinements to the domestic actuarial regime under Solvency II, while the European Commission adopted a communication addressing competitiveness challenges in the EU banking sector. EIOPA completed its Solvency II review mandate by publishing the final set of guidelines and technical standards for the amended framework.

Given your limited time and the need to allocate it effectively in almost any business, you will need to assign a portion of the accounting workload to an outside expert team.