Deloitte to create Asia Pacific firm

Deloitte is merging its operations in Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South East Asia, to create Deloitte Asia Pacific, which will become operational by 1 September. With hopes to create a US$10 billion business by 2022, the firm plans to allocate US$321 million in extra investment to speed up the transition. The new alliance will have a total of 44,500 professionals across the new business. Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte Australia Cindy Hook will take up the role of CEO of Deloitte Asia Pacific, and said that the move will allow Deloitte to increase its scale across the Asia-Pacific region and enhance its client service capabilities. In 2016, the firm combined its United Kingdom and Swiss operations with its Belgian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish member firms, to create Deloitte North West Europe.

California-based carmaker Tesla is the first to trigger the reduced incentive for electric cars in the United States, Bloomberg reported. The US$7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles is set to start phasing out for the Model S, Model X, and Model 3 after 31 December, according to the company’s website. After that date, the tax credit will be halved during the first half of 2019 and halved again during the second half, assuming there’s no change to the programme. The tax credit, put in place during the Obama administration, was an incentive for car buyers to purchase electric vehicles and to encourage more manufacturers to adopt new technology. Tesla buyers eager to purchase the US$35,000 Model 3 are to be affected the most, as the car is still slated for a mid-2019 release.

EY acquired cryptocurrency technology as part of its strategy to expand the firm’s blockchain capabilities-related capabilities, the firm announced this month. The firm acquired certain technology assets and related patents from Elevated Consciousness, a San Francisco-based startup that focuses on digital currency, and specializes in the Andy Crypto-Asset Accounting and Tax (CAAT) tool, which connects with multiple cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets to provide better visibility into cryptocurrency transactions and inventory.

KPMG: 1MDB audits are unreliable

KPMG last month informed Malaysia’s scandal-hit state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) that its annual audits from 2010 to 2012 do not provide a “true and fair” assessment of the fund. According to Reuters, with no access to relevant documents, the Big Four firm retracted the audit reports. “According to KPMG, they reached the decision after going through the recently declassified auditor general’s report on 1MDB and other relevant documents that were withheld from them by the previous management,” 1MDB said. KPMG also told 1MDB that if the documents had been disclosed to the auditors, the audit firm believed the information “would have materially impacted the financial statements and the relevant audit reports.” The wealth fund, which was established in 2009 by former prime minister Najib Razak, faces a global corruption probe, with authorities alleging that US$4.5 billion has gone missing.

7

The number of additional years women in accounting and finance have to work to reach executive level, compared with their male counterparts, according to a study commissioned by the ACCA and conducted by King’s College London.

25%

The tariff United States President Donald Trump plans on imposing on US$200 billion in foreign-made cars later this year. Critics believe tariffs would drive up the cost of all cars and pass those inflated prices on to consumers.

£17.9 million

The value of fines imposed by the United Kingdom’s Financial Reporting Council, up 24 percent from the previous year. The accounting watch dog faces pressure to crack down on failures at audit firms following to the sudden collapse of the construction company Carillion in January.

PwC U.K. drops landlines for mobile phones

Staff at PwC in the United Kingdom are expected to switch from landlines to mobile phones at the end of summer in a bid to be more efficient, reported BBC News. With the exception of meeting rooms, reception and security use, all landlines at office desks are to be removed. “With landline usage falling rapidly, we believe that a more mobile-focused policy is a more efficient way of working,” said a PwC spokesperson. He added that many staff members have already moved away from using their landlines. The number of landline numbers at businesses in the U.K. had fallen 35 percent to 6.4 million by the end of last year, down from 10 million in 2010, according to Ofcom.

EY U.K. bins single-use cups

Plastic cups and single-use paper cups will be banned across all EY offices in the United Kingdom by the end of the year, as the firm aims to tackle pollution and environmental damage. The use of plastic cutlery and catering consumables will also be banned, in an attempt to reduce the firm’s consumption of single-use plastic items by more than 7.7 million pieces per year, according to Caroline Artis, EY’s Senior London Partner and environmental lead. “Feedback from our people has highlighted that plastic pollution is one of their biggest environmental concerns and I am so proud of this initiative supporting our continued efforts to build a better working world,” she said.

Pinterest pins IPO plans

Social media company Pinterest is getting close to US$1 billion in advertising revenue, as it targets an initial public offering (IPO) in the second quarter of 2019, CNBC reported. Having achieved US$500 million in ad sales in 2017, the company is on track to double that this year, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. The company has a current valuation of US$13 billion-US$15 billion, based on secondary market trading, multiple people say. It could join high-valued and high-profile consumer start-ups that are aiming to hit the market around the same time, such Uber and Airbnb. Pinterest users “pin” images they like so that followers can view visual boards on subjects such as recipes and design.

A stands for advertising, says Alphabet CFO

Ruth Porat, Chief Financial Officer of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reassured investors this month that the company is still spending its money on its core business: advertising, CNBC reported. The American multinational conglomerate beat expectations with a 26 percent gain on its second quarter earnings, however capital spending nearly doubled year-on-year to US$5.5 billion. In the earnings call, Porat said: “I think one of the most important points to underscore [on investment priorities] is that one of the biggest opportunities for investment continues to be in our ads business where we’re continuing to invest meaningfully given the opportunity set that we see there.”