UK bank profits 'distorted by accounting rules'

The UK's accounting rules are distorting bank profits and leading to confusion over executive pay, some of the country's largest investors have have warned.

In a letter to business secretary Vince Cable last week, seen by the Daily Telegraph, major investment houses including Threadneedle, and the Co-Operative Asset Management, said the rules are “harming” shareholders and destabilising banks and the economy. According to the Telegraph, the letter was signed by nine investor groups and called for an overhaul of accounting rules. It said: “The accounting and auditing systems in the UK are harming long-term shareholders by undermining our ability to reliably assess capital held by companies (especially banks); clouding our understanding of ...