Cut regulation, cut shareholder access to information
Euro accountants warn that proposals could cost create big costs for SMEs
Investors and shareholders will miss critical information’ if the EU adopts a
‘simplistic’ approach to cutting financial regulation, senior accountants have
warned.
The comments, from the European Federation of Accountants, were made in
response to a new consultation aimed at simplifying rules, issued by internal
markets commissioner
Charlie
McCreevy.
McCreevy said: ‘If we want to enable European businesses to compete in
today’s global market, we need to cut red tape. Many EU rules on company law and
accounting are more than 20 years’ old and place unnecessary burdens on EU
businesses.’
But
FEE
president Jacques Potdevin said the process could harm the value of shareholder
information: ‘Demands [for information] are real and if they are not met through
harmonised rules, each player will still seek to obtain and verify it, therefore
submitting SMEs to unco-ordinated and costly information demands.’