BUSINESSES in the UK lost more than £40bn last year - equivalent to about £100m a day - because of economic crime.
The study by accountants and advisors RSM Robson Rhodes identified embezzlement, cheque fraud and money laundering as the main areas of concern, with employee-related crimes such as bribery and corruption also costly.
The majority of companies believe economic crime affects their share price and brand image, the report added.
It revealed that businesses lost £32bn last year because of economic or corporate crime, with a further £8bn spent trying to combat the problem.
RSM said US energy company Enron highlighted the impact of economic crime as the collapse of the group following "dubious accounting practices" helped drive a global stock market slump.
The 100 companies, with a combined market value of £500bn, which were polled in the survey agreed that, in the light of Enron and similar instances, economic crime was now a board-level issue.
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