The shaping of the tax audits regime in the new common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) legislation: Proposed solutions for substantives and procedural provisions

The European Commission has been pursuing, since 2001, the project to introduce a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) as a systematic solution to overcome the tax obstacles to cross-border business activity in the EC internal market, and, after some years of consultations and technical work on the shape of this new corporate tax regime, a Directive introducing the CCCTB seems finally bound to come out in the near future. This would be the most far-reaching piece of EC tax legislation ever introduced, and one of the key aspects of its working concerns the shaping of the tax audits regime for eligible businesses. Numerous and key questions are being raised by the shaping of this regime (e.g.: which tax authoriy can conduct the audit ? How can tax authorities of Member States concerned collaborate with each others ? Should there be particular criteria for selecting the businesses to be subject to tax audits ?): this paper (which was first submitted for an international conference on the CCCTB co-organised on 21-23 February 2008 by the Austrian and International Tax Law Institute of the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration and by the European Commission, and subsequently approved for publication as a book chapter) aims at proposing responses to these questions and to further issues, and at identifying possible solutions which may reconcile the attractiveness of the new regime from the viewpoint of businesses with the need to prevent distortions in the functioning of the EC internal market. The book which includes the paper - Lang/Pistone/Schuch/Staringer (ed.) Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), 2008, Linde Publishing House (Vienna) - is forthcoming

Overcoming Resistance to Diversity in the Executive Suite: Grease, Grit, and the Corporate Tournament

Once we open the corporate governance/human resources nexus to deeper inquiry, mutual scholarly interest in diversity and discrimination follows naturally. Firms have complex motives to take nondiscrimination and the promotion of diversity seriously. First, at least certain forms of discrimination are both unlawful and socially illegitimate and hence present threats of potential liability and injury to reputation. Second, human resources demands are such that attracting and motivating a diverse workforce is a competitive imperative. At the same time, however, offsetting economic forces may exist that favor subtle forms of discrimination and hostility to diversity, even if intentional and overt racial or gender-based bias is mostly outdated. In sum, the process of promoting diversity and ending discrimination, whether to avoid liability or simply to remain competitive, is a difficult challenge faced by many firms. It demands a close look at the efficacy of the internal decisionmaking and authority structures of the firm

The statute of governance. A pivotal linkage between principles of governance and corporate practices

This paper puts forward an innovative construct called the Statute of Governance, by which a company can foster and enhance its corporate governance. The paper argues that it is not enough to list some principles of governance and a set of related good practices, as the Australian Stock Exchange has done, albeit it comprises the best available guidelines for the time being. We contend, however, that a step further should be taken, consisting of a Statute of Governance designed and passed by the Board, voted through by stockholders, and enacted by the management. Such statute is a pivotal linkage between principles and good practices, because it becomes enforceable from within the company itself, as the basic by-law concerning corporate governance.statute of governance, principles of governance, good practices, Australian Stock Exchange, corporate governance.

Conflicts of interest: The ethical viewpoint

Conflicts of interest are a very widespread ethical problem which, precisely for that reason, deserves special attention, both from a legal viewpoint and from the point of view of ethics applied to organizations and professions. In this paper we use the conceptual framework of agency theory to explain what constitutes a conflict of interest. This enables us to identify what causes conflicts of interest and analyze the ethical criteria to be applied to them and the solutions commonly proposed. Because our processing of information, our judgments and our decision making are subject to significant unconscious and unintended biases, the emphasis in this paper is on the conditions that an agent's decision must satisfy in a conflict of interest situation in order to be ethically correct.agency theory; agent; conflict interest; corruption; ethics professions;

From opt-in to obligation? : Examining the regulation of globally operating tech companies through alternative regulatory instruments from a material and territorial viewpoint

Modern society’s ever-increasing reliance on technology raises complex legal challenges. In the search for an efficient and effective regulatory response, more and more authorities – in particular the European Union – are relying on alternative regulatory instruments (ARIs) when engaging big tech companies. Materially, this is a natural fit: the tech industry is a complex and rapidly-evolving sector and – unlike the rigid classic legislative process – ARIs allow for meaningful ex ante anticipatory constructions and ex post enforcement due to their unique flexibility. However, from a territorial point of view several complications arise. Although the use of codes of conduct to regulate transnational private actors has a rich history, the way in which such codes are set out under articles 40 and 41 of the EU’s GDPR implies a ‘hardening’ of these soft law instruments that has repercussions for their relationship to the principles of territorial jurisdiction. This contribution serves as a first step for further research into the relationship between codes of conduct, the regulation of the tech industry and the territorial aspects related thereto