As financial markets have increasingly globalised, the regulatory framework is still nationally fragmented. One core regulatory element is the provision of assurance services by accounting firms. The Big 4 - the leading international providers of audit services Ð are not as international as are...

In many countries, not only one but several sets of accounts have to be prepared and disclosed by (holding) companies. This paper investigates the possibly different economic functions of these sets of accounts by looking at the German dual financial reporting system, in which company (single)...

Durch die globale Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise geraten Europas Banken immer mehr unter Druck. So hat die desolate Verfassung der Staatsfinanzen der südeuropäischen Länder nach Ansicht von Stephan Paul und Christian Farruggio, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, die Krise in den Bankensektor...

Purpose – This paper aims to empirically investigate the relationship between the level of compliance with the German Corporate Governance Code’s (GCGC) recommendations and the implied cost of equity capital (ICC). German listed companies are required by law to annually disclose their...