Insights

Fraud is endemic in the construction industry. So much so that in many parts of the world it is seen merely as a ‘cost of doing business’. But this does not have to be the case. In a report released this week, ‘Time for a new direction – Fighting fraud in Construction’, we recommend a number of concrete steps companies can take to avoid becoming victims of fraud.

According to our Global Dynamism Index (GDI) 2013, Australia is the economy businesses should be looking at. It climbed to the top of the ranking of 60 of the largest economies in the world this year, up from seventh place in 2012.

Last month I chaired a panel of leading figures from the Private Equity (PE) sector to launch our 2013/14 Global Private Equity report: ‘A time of challenge & opportunity’.

Welcome to the fourth edition of Transfer Pricing News. This provides updates on transfer pricing developments from a number of countries across the globe – a necessity in the global economy we all now inhabit.

Is there light at the end of the tunnel for the food and beverage sector? Certainly our new report on the health of the sector – ‘Hunger for growth: Food and Beverage looks to the future‘ – suggests so.

The appetite for cross-border deals has rocketed by 18% during the past 12 months. This is the key finding from our latest research that looks at attitudes to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) among business leaders worldwide.

Private equity firms around the world are adapting to a 'new fundraising road map', according to the Grant Thornton Global Private Equity Report 2013/14.

The economy of France continues to suffer as the eurozone crisis continues. Following a deep contraction in 2009, the economy recovered robustly, posting seven consecutive quarters of expansion. However, France has stagnated over the past two years as problems in southern Europe intensified, with growth slowing as unemployment and government debt rise.

Our International Business Report with insights gained from in-depth interviews with five senior female executives from around the world, this report looks at the role of education in improving female participation and how this can help boost business growth.

In the second of our Future of Europe series, we look at three aspects of the sovereign debt crisis: the stagnation of the region’s economies, closer integration and the future expansion of Europe.

Presidential elections in some of the world’s largest economies, the sovereign debt crisis and the US fiscal cliff have all contributed to a global sense of economic uncertainty. How are major and developing markets faring in the face of these developments and what does the year ahead have in store?

Last week, we released the results of the Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index (GDI) 2013. This is the second year we have released these results. We are seeing the beginning of trends in the data but there was also some interesting movement up and down the rankings.

Stefano Salvadeo was interviewed on Focus Economia di Radio 24 recently to discuss some positive indicators regarding M&A activity in Italy.

Thinking outside the Big Blue box. Scott Barnes responds to UK Competition Commission proposals.

These are the results of the Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index (GDI) 2013, an annual research project designed by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which ranks the development of the business growth environments of 60 of the world's largest economies over the past 12 months.

A lot has been written about auditor rotation over recent months, but in August, India became the latest major economy to actually enforce mandatory rotation. This is big news. And not just for us accountants.