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New accounting standards requiring pension deficits to be recorded on the balance sheet could result in a £100 billion ($188 billion) hit to UK companies this year, says professional services firm Deloitte. Whether the change will result in a downgrading of companies' share prices will depend on the extent that pension deficits have already been factored in by the markets. Under new accounting standards*, UK companies will record the total deficit for final salary pension schemes in full on the balance sheet. For example, Deloitte actuaries estimate the total pensions deficit of FTSE 100 companies to be around £50 billion at the current time, whereas less than around £10 billion is currently booked in the accounts. Therefore, the FTSE 100 may need to provide for an extra £40 billion. Across all UK companies, the total hit could be as much as £100 billion.

The US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board issued a standard yesterday that could help companies convince investors of the strength of their financial controls, without having to call in the auditors for a full report.

Last year saw an unprecedented number (56) of M&A transactions in Central & Eastern Europe valued over $100 million, totalling $27.8 billion. Out of these "mega" deals, 27 occurred in Russia and represented almost 40% of total estimated transactions in the region.

Siemens Financial Services (SFS) is expanding its financing business into the Chinese market. The company today announced the launch of a proprietary leasing company in China, the Siemens Finance and Leasing Ltd (SFLL). SFLL has been awarded the leasing license by relevant government bodies and is one of the first 100% foreign owned lessors in the financial services sector in China.

Following a roaring performance in terms of new admissions and

Mark Kobayashi-Hillary, Global Director of Research of Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) Technologies launched the second edition of his popular book Outsourcing to India: the Offshore Advantage (Springer 2005) at a reception on 23 March at the Nehru Centre in London. The 155-seat theatre was packed beyond capacity; some audience members were standing or seated on stairs due to the popularity of the event - a clear indication that this is a topic of interest to the business community. First published by Springer in March 2004, Mark's book is a valuable guide to anyone working with Indian technology and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and the new edition features extra material on the risks of offshoring and analysis of future trends.

lastminute.com, the leading pan-European travel and leisure website, has appointed Stephen Gleadle as CFO with effect from April 29 2005. Stephen, 46, joins lastminute.com from Synstar plc where he was group finance director and company secretary. At Synstar he improved the quality of financial decision making at all levels and oversaw the restructuring of the business, contributing significantly to its return to profitability and helping to rebuild City sentiment. Before Synstar, Stephen was group financial controller at Tarmac, having previously held a number of senior financial management positions with NFC and Mars Confectionery. Stephen graduated from the University of Bristol in the UK with a degree in Economics before training as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse. Brian Collie, Chairman of lastminute.com said: "I am delighted to welcome Stephen to the Board. His experience of corporate change and strong financial leadership will be a great asset to Brent and his team as they continue to integrate the recently acquired businesses" On his new appointment, Stephen Gleadle commented: "I am very pleased to have this opportunity to be a part of the fast growing and exciting travel and leisure industry and to work with the current management team to take lastminute.com through its next stage of development. I'm sure my experience of working within a dynamic technology company will prove invaluable."

The loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in shareholder value during the past 10 years might have been mitigated substantially if some organizations approached risk management differently, according to a new study by Deloitte & Touche, the US professional services firm.

A study of CEO pay and skill by professors Robert Daines, Vinay Nair and Lewis Kornhauser, of Stanford University, the Wharton School and New York University, respectively, has found little evidence of high skill among CEOs at big firms. Moreover the research also found evidence that pay and skill are negatively related in the performance of big firms in industries constrained by business environment factors.

Construction conservatism | Essen Hyp: leading the way with jumbos | Eurohypo: biggest in the market

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