Adecco, the global staffing giant, moved to boost investor confidence in the light of its recent accounting scandal.

In a statement to shareholders, the group reported that it had identified “material weaknesses” in its internal controls in Adecco Staffing North America and an investigation was currently underway to examine the accounting, internal controls and compliance systems.

In addition, the company also said it had so far not uncovered any evidence that demonstrated any major misappropriations and irregularities that would financially impact on the company as a whole.

However, the company did announce that it had found instances of local misappropriations and irregularities at branch level in some countries.

John Bowmer, executive chairman of the board, said: “We are working to reinforce and improve our systems and our finance function, and are determined to work through and learn quickly from these problems. We expect that Adecco will be an even stronger company when coming out of this period.”

The company also reported that demand for its services this year would be stronger that last year. Its current financial position was sound and that a recent internal analysis illustrated that the company’s net debt position was estimated to be E900 million at the year end.