IFRS Conversion in Saudi Arabia is already underway with publicly listed companies expected to start reporting using the new financial framework in 2017. Adoption of IFRS is part of the ‘Project for Transition to International Accounting and Auditing Standards’ introduced by the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA). A key advantage in the introduction of IFRS is the standardization of reporting, allowing entities across the world to be compared in a consistent way. 
Listen to Andrew Hay, Global Head of Statutory Financial Reporting for Thomson Reuters, provide insight on IFRS conversion based on his experience in Australia.

Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) will result in a paradigm shift of the global tax landscape. As more and more countries and jurisdictions are passing laws and regulations to support the BEPS Action Place compelling companies to comply with these rules, the impact of BEPS will become truly global. The report released on Action 13 provides revised standards for transfer pricing documentation and a template for country-by-country (CbC) reporting. In addition, the regional landscape is also shifting rapidly: Gulf Co-Operation Council (GCC) countries have announced their plan to implement value-added-tax (VAT), and this is expected to be introduced on January 1, 2018. 
Listen to Bert Brys, Head of Tax Policy Unit, OECD, as he walks us through the tremendous changes BEPS will bring globally and also what VAT introduction in the GCC means from a macro-economic perspective.

In an effort to move beyond an oil economy, Saudi Arabia has committed to an ambitious plan of economic transformation. Central to these changes is the introduction of taxation and revenue diversification. How will the introduction of VAT and IFRS contribute to this end? Listen to Senior Macroeconomist, Eugene McQuaid, discuss the biggest VAT challenges facing businesses in Saudi Arabia, and the impact of IFRS on investment.

The impending introduction of VAT in the GCC will impact all sectors of the business community. With a VAT framework expected to be ratified in mid-2016, most businesses will have 18 months to prepare for the anticipated 1 Jan 2018 implementation of VAT in select Gulf countries.  Listen to Finbarr Sexton, Head of Indirect Tax, Ernst & Young Middle East, give his perspective on questions ranging from how VAT will impact businesses to potential exemptions. 

Growth in emerging markets has created an unprecedented number of new trade patterns, with a tenfold increase in world trade in the past 30 years. This increase in global trade presents a lot of opportunity for corporations looking to take advantage of globalization, but at the same time presents challenges in the areas of planning, execution, and regulatory compliance. In this episode of MENA Talks, we speak with Eduardo Vitor, on how corporations can improve efficiency and reduce risks through the automation of global trade management.

BEPS refers to Base Erosion Profit Shifting, an issue that has been hotly debated since 2013, when the OECD and the G20 adopted a mandate to address international tax issues, specifically in relation to profit shifting of global companies operating in cross-border jurisdictions. At its core, the issue is this - do companies with cross-border operations pay taxes in the country where they are headquartered, or should they pay taxes in all of the jurisdictions where they operate? The BEPS Project was established to resolve the problem of profit shifting particularly where it caused base erosion.

In this episode of Thomson Reuters MENA Talks, Antonio De Gregorio, Head of Tax & Accounting, MENA, speaks with Dr. Nasser Saidi, the former Minister of Economy and Trade for Lebanon, on how GCC countries may diversify their economies beyond this resource.

The supply chains of many multinational organizations, present a heightened risk of transgressing local or international regulations and laws. In this interview, we speak to James Swenson, the Head of Operations and Delivery for IntegraScreen, about specific legislation, both existing and in the pipeline, that may impact on supply chain management for companies in the MENA region.