The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) recommends that any public company reporting financial statements under U.S. rules to a regulator in the 25-member European Union (EU) merely disclose the differences between the American and international rules, rather than reconciling the two different standards.The recommendation follows last week’s statement from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) that European companies following international accounting standards may be allowed to report those figures without reconciling them to the U.S.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has released a so-called “road map,” that would allow European companies to sell securities in the U.S. without having to rework their financial statements.Currently, companies that follow International Financial Reporting Standards must reconcile their financial reports that are filed with the SEC so that they meet U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

Royal Bank of Canada will no longer use U.S. accounting rules to figure its financial results, opting to revert to Canadian accounting standards.The bank, which is based in Toronto and is the largest in Canada, said the standards in both countries are growing more similar. Royal Bank started using U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) six years ago to match the system used by most of its North American competitors. The bank has been producing both U.S.

Three-quarters of U.S. companies outsourced some or all of their information technology activities in 2004, and that percentage is likely to increase this year, according to a special survey on outsourcing and offshoring in the March issue of Ziff Davis Media's CIO Insight magazine. While a smaller percentage of companies are outsourcing those activities offshore (32%), half of them have cut full-time jobs as a result.India is the most competitive and popular technology outsourcing destination in the world in 2005, according to the Global Outsourcing Report and, China will be the No.

As the U.S. builds a tax evasion case against chess great Bobby Fischer, the man himself sits in the Japanese detention center where he has been held for eight months after being caught trying to leave Japan on an invalid U.S. passport, the Associated Press reported.Japan ordered Fischer deported to the U.S. after the passport incident, in which he attempted to board a flight to the Philippines in July.As Fischer tries to fight his way out of Japan-Iceland has offered him a passport-the U.S.

Venezuela's tax agency last week closed more than 200 businesses, including 80 McDonald's restaurants, for violating tax rules.President Hugo Chavez has been taking a tough stance against tax evasion and questionable accounting practices in recent years, and the temporary closings were part of a “zero evasion” campaign, according to the state-run Bolivarian News Agency, which quoted tax official Lucila Ascanio.The fast-food restaurants were closed for three days because a discrepancy was found between the company's purchases and its records of sales, the news agency reported.

Many U.S. corporations with overseas operations are busy announcing plans to participate in the repatriation amnesty program that is part of the American Jobs Creation Act (AJCA) signed into law last fall. The New York Times reports that pharmaceutical companies in particular are expected to make up a large percentage of the money flowing back into the states under the terms of this legislation. Pfizer alone, producer of popular drugs Viagra and Lipitor, is expected to repatriate as much as $38 billion in foreign profits.

As the World Economic Forum got under way in the Alpine resort of Davos, Switzerland, critics of globalization handed out “Public Eye Awards” for irresponsible corporate behavior.According to Agence France-Presse, Nestle, oil giant Shell and Dow Chemicals, as well as Wal-Mart and KPMG International, were criticized as being among the worst corporate performers from 20 multinational nominees that have allegedly failed in their responsibilities regarding human rights, labor relations, the environment or taxes.“They are model cases for all the corporate groups that have excelled in so

With the New York Stock Exchange's reputation as the market of choice for overseas companies at stake, the Securities and Exchange Commission signaled “a change in tone” yesterday toward foreign companies looking to avoid strict U.S. governance rules, Financial Times reported.The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 laid down stringent new rules designed to protect U.S. investors in the wake of a spate of corporate scandals. Foreign companies are currently required to follow Sarbanes-Oxley if they are publicly listed in the U.S.