Michael Kapoor

Rules for sustainability audits are being strengthened as countries gear up for mandatory reporting of environmental, social, and governance issues.

European sustainability reporting rules that kicked in last year face a drastic rethink, as EU technocrats work to simplify them after complaints the rules were rushed through and are too complex.

Standard setters agreed Wednesday to publish changes to the voluntary guidelines underpinning corporate global environmental, social, and governance disclosure rules.

KPMG Tuesday launched an artificial intelligence platform that allows technology to complete tasks and take decisions independently, with little human intervention.

Three English Premier League football clubs have been sanctioned or are under investigation for using accounting tricks to play down their financial losses. One of those clubs, Everton, was even deducted points in the standings, putting it at risk of being relegated, or demoted to a lower competitive division. The league, like others in Europe, enforces rules that cap clubs’ losses. But wealthy owners seek ways to bypass the rules to spend more on players.

The head of PwC’s Australian arm resigned Monday as the fallout over the firm’s leaking of confidential government tax plans intensifies.

A spate of scandals has put accounting firms in the U.K. on the back foot. The collapse of Carillion Plc, and subsequently Thomas Cook Group Plc, have been among cases that raised questions about auditing standards at the so-called Big Four firms. In response, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers have agreed to separate their auditing and consulting departments by 2024 to avert possible conflicts of interest, a move that critics say doesn’t go far enough.