Paul Achleitner is due to retire next May after 10 difficult years in office that saw two changes of chief executive, billions of euros of losses and huge fines
Ms McGuinness will launch a public consultation after the summer looking at company audit committees, the outside auditors who sign off on financial figures companies publish and the regulators who supervise them.
It will examine whether responsibilities of company board members to provide accurate financial reports are defined clearly enough.
The consultation will reflect on how to improve the role of company audit committees and whether they should be mandatory.
Ms McGuinness said supervisors for auditors across the EU had found problems with internal quality control systems. They also found a lack of or inappropriate monitoring of high-risk audited entities and insufficient audit evidence and documentation, she added.
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HSBC has no plans to launch a cryptocurrency trading desk or offer the digital coins as an investment to customers, because they are too volatile and lack transparency, its chief executive Noel Quinn said.
Europe s largest bank s stance on cryptocurrencies comes as the world s biggest and best-known digital currency, Bitcoin, has tumbled nearly 50 per cent from the year s high, after China cracked down on mining the currency and prominent advocate Elon Musk tempered his support.
HSBC s move marks it out against rivals such as Goldman Sachs, which Reuters in March said has restarted its cryptocurrency trading desk, and UBS which media reports said was exploring ways to offer the currencies as an investment product.
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South-East Asia s biggest ride-hailing and food delivery firm, Grab Holdings, agreed to a merger on Tuesday with US-based Altimeter Growth Corporation in a deal that gives Grab an initial equity value of about $39.6 billion and will lead to a public listing.
The merger, the biggest blank cheque company deal ever, underscores the frenzy on Wall Street as shell firms have raised $99 billion in the United States so far this year after a record $83 billion in 2020.
Singapore-based Grab s agreement with a special purpose acquisition company backed by Altimeter Capital includes a more than $4bn private investment in public equity by investors including BlackRock, Fidelity International, Janus Henderson Investors and Temasek Holdings.
A number of companies say it disenfranchises some voters. Some, such as Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola, are based in Georgia, where state lawmakers have the power to raise state taxes. Delta chief executive Ed Bastian said in a public memo that his decision to speak out was informed by discussions with leaders and employees in the Black community.
The companies criticising the law so far represent a sliver of the US business landscape. Yet they are part of a growing group of companies shedding their reluctance to speak out on politically controversial social issues that matter to many of their employees and customers globally, business leaders interviewed by