PARIS – Only a few of Europe’s securities regulators have a direct role in supervising auditors, but a larger number of securities regulators play an indirect role in the supervision of auditors, a survey by European Union regulators shows.

Europe’s reform of auditing standards could cause conflicts with some developing countries. A forthcoming paper is expected to try to pour oil on troubled waters - By David Keefe

In an age of risk-based regulatory capital requirements, credit raters need capital models to check for inconsistencies.

Completing the effort to harmonise differences between international and US accounting rules is one of the near-term measures needed to ensure the auditing profession overcomes barriers to providing the services needed in the future, according to six of the world’s largest auditing firms.

Europe’s insurers didn’t panic, and results of the second Solvency II test did not prove too bad after all. But for some, the third test - QIS3 - will be the real one - By David Keefe

Europe’s insurance industry favours the use of so-called value-at-risk, or VaR, measurement rather than tail value-at-risk (TailVaR) because VaR has became the generally accepted risk measure for financial risk management, a leading insurance trade body said in November.

WASHINGTON, December 5 (Global Risk Regulator) – US federal banking supervisors propose giving the thousands of US banks that won’t be adopting the complex Basel II bank safety rules, the option of either continuing with the current Basel I capital rules or adopting the so-called Basel IA regime.

GENEVA, Switzerland, December 11 (Global Risk Regulator) – Europe’s top banking regulator reiterated today her confidence that supervisors will find “practical and reasonable” solutions to problems created by differences in European and US plans for implementing the Basel II bank safety rules.

FRANKFURT, Germany, December 6 (Global Risk Regulator) – The second test of Europe’s risk-focused Solvency II framework for improving insurance company safety confirmed the overall resilience of the sector, European Union insurance regulators said today.

WASHINGTON, December 5 (Global Risk Regulator) – US banking supervisors, responding to calls from the US banking industry, are extending the comment period on their proposals for implementing the controversial Basel II bank capital rules in the US.