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BT to take £530 million hit over 'improper' Italian accounting
An accounting scandal uncovered at BT's Italian division is worse than previously thought. Far worse. In October last year, the mobile, TV and broadband provider said it had discovered "historical accounting errors" and "inappropriate management behaviour" to the tune of £145 million. A sizeable figure, but one that BT has admitted was a "best estimate" at the time. Now, following an independent review by KPMG, that number has been revised to £530 million. Alongside some dodgy accounting work, investigators found "a complex set of improper sales, purchase, factoring and leasing transactions," conducted over multiple years. Ouch.
Panasonic names Kazuhiro Tsuga as new president after old one loses $9 billion
In the aftermath of company losses that passed $9 billion, Panasonic has announced that Fumio Ohtsubo is to step down as company president. He'll be replaced by current senior executive Kazuhiro Tsuga in an executive reshuffle that'll take place in June, when Ohtsubo will step up to become chairman of the board, replacing Kunio Nakamura who is taking an "advisory role." Tsuga was formerly an exec. at Matsushita (before it was renamed... Panasonic. Confusing, we know), where he spent a lot of time thumbing his nose at HD DVD and promising that Blu-Ray would win the last format war -- so we know his instincts are at least halfway decent.
