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The question is no longer whether blockchain will disrupt the tax system, but how far, how fast and how to ensure your business is up to speed. Putting the hype aside, what does blockchain really mean for tax compliance and management within your business? What are the main risks and opportunities? How can you begin preparing for the shake-up ahead?

Whether it’s robotics, artificial intelligence or the cloud, advances in technology present a golden opportunity for the finance function. But what’s the best way to maximise potential gains: an enterprise-wide solution, or a more targeted approach?

Despite all the noise (Italy, Trump’s trade policy, emerging markets, etc.), the global economy’s reflation process continues and will become more and more evident. Long-term interest rates are therefore going to have to move upwards significantly. In terms of other issues, although we still think that the tightening of global financial conditions can take place in an orderly manner, the fact that overheating risks in the US continue to edge up increases the likelihood that we will experience volatility in the markets.

Research from Grant Thornton’s International Business Report (IBR) reveals that business leaders globally are less optimistic about the economic outlook than at the start of the year, despite continuing rises in expected revenues. The dip in optimism suggests that the global economic cycle may have peaked. Business leaders should therefore consider using increased revenue to structurally invest at this stage of the cycle to ensure long-term prosperity.

Despite all the talk about geopolitical risks, the outlook for the global economy continues to be positive: the US is very strong, the European slowdown seen during the first months of the year has been temporary (see, for example, the May employment data) and most emerging economies have solid foundations. Even though spare capacity is being eliminated somewhat quickly and upward pressures on prices and wages are becoming increasingly evident, markets remain convinced that we live in a world with very little inflation, where interest rates are set to remain low permanently.

China’s One Belt, One Road outbound investment strategy presents a wealth of opportunity along major global land and maritime trade routes. But how can business owners outside China take advantage?

Nobody thought that complying with the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) transfer pricing analysis and documentation demands would be easy. Yet, the opening year has proved to make greater demands and has required more attention than many multinational enterprises (MNEs) had anticipated.

International taxation is undergoing the biggest shake-up for a generation. The already complex world of transfer pricing is at the front and centre of these disruptive changes, both in the rules that govern it and in the heightened scrutiny it now faces.

Up until the Summer of 2016 it was mostly negative views about the world economy that dominated market sentiment: many thought that the Chinese economy was going to decelerate abruptly sooner rather than later; the US economy seemed poised to enter recession because of the problems related to the energy sector; Brexit was seen as the first step that would end up leading to the collapse of the European Union; secular stagnation seemed to be the name of the game, meaning that the global economy appeared to be stuck in an equilibrium of very low growth and with aggregate demand remaining structurally weak and unable to create any kind of inflationary pressure…

A rise in business optimism means more organisations are on the lookout for talent, but with demand outstripping supply, where does it leave small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)?

The last year has seen global business take one step forward but one step back when it comes to gender diversity in leadership. The percentage of businesses around the world with at least one woman in senior management has increased significantly, rising from 66% to 75% in the last year. But at the same time the proportion of senior roles held by women has marginally declined.

When faced with business challenges, the response is often that companies need to be more agile. But what does it mean and how do you increase agility?