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The presence of fraud and corruption in construction can take many forms; from falsely representing the number of hours a contractor works, through to collusion when bidding for contracts or paying bribes to secure a contract. These inevitably increase costs and, in the case of bribes, inflate the contract price.

Israel is a major player in science & technological innovation. In fact, perhaps only the United States is more prominent globally.

The Philippine economy is growing fast. GDP expanded by 6.8% in 2012 and, whilst remittances climbed to a record high of US$23.8 billion in 2012, their share of GDP actually dropped to 8.5%, down from 9% in 2011.

Business optimism in markets such as China, the UK and the US has risen markedly over recent months according to the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR)[1]. And the most interesting aspect for me is the contribution of the real estate and construction sector to the brightening economic outlook.

Five years after the global financial crisis struck, residual effects continue to impact public financial management (PFM) in countries throughout the world.

IAS 39 ‘Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement’, the previous Standard that dealt with hedge accounting, was heavily criticised for containing complex rules which either made it impossible for entities to use hedge accounting or, in some cases, simply put them off doing so.

The outlook for the cleantech sector looks to be improving. While the Climate Policy Initiative reported that global climate finance flows had plateaued at US$359bn in 2012, business growth indicators from our Q3 International Business Report (IBR) are positive, particularly as regards investment and R&D, although a shortage of talent remains a challenge

Business leaders in the hospitality & tourism sector are continuing to do ‘more with less’ according to the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) Q3 results. Expectations for business growth remain robust, but job creation is fairly stagnant, reflecting a broader drive for efficiencies within the sector.

I was interviewed last week by CNBC and BBC World News[1] to discuss our Q3 International Business Report (IBR) results. The big surprise was that business optimism in the UK more than doubled over the past quarter.

The Chinese economy is slowing. The days of rampant, double-digit expansion are in the past as we move away from massive investment and export dependency towards a more sustainable, consumption-driven model of growth. This rebalancing offers both challenges and opportunities for dynamic organisations. How these businesses adapt to the changing environment will be key to their growth prospects.

This guide includes practical guidance on the detection of intangible assets in a business combination and also discusses the most common methods used in practice to estimate their fair value. It provides examples of intangible assets commonly found in business combinations and explains how they might be valued.

Global tax newsletter is designed to keep you up to date with significant tax developments around the world that impact businesses with cross-border operations. It addresses issues of a global nature as well as domestic tax developments of interest to foreign investors. The newsletter aims to cover tax developments on a regional and international basis.

The food and beverage industry is poised for growth around the globe. After years of uncertainty, retrenchment and delayed investments, industry executives are once again looking to invest in new products, new capacity, new distribution channels and new markets. Even in countries still shaking off the recession, executives expect growth and plan to capture market share at home and abroad.

There was some great news for Chile in the latest edition of the Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index (GDI): we ranked second out of 60 economies, behind only Australia.

John Geldart has spent a lot of time in China over recent years. It is an amazing country which fascinates and surprises him every time he returns, but perhaps no more so than over the past few months when he has been lucky enough to interview the chairmen of some of its most dynamic companies.

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.