Bank of America shrank its derivatives business in Ireland by $169bn (€123bn) over the past two years as it moved contracts to London to simplify its accounting practices.

Hewlett Packard saidAutonomy, the software firm it bought in 2011, overstated profits at one of its main British units by 81% in the year before it was sold in Britain’s biggest technology deal.

THE recent financial scandals in the United States have highlighted, as never before, the need for common global accountancy standards, according to the President of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants Brian Coffey.