THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE WORLD CONGRESS OF ACCOUNTANTS 2010
SEPTEMBER 2010
GOLD SPONSORS
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Growing significance of Islamic Finance The announcement by Thomson Reuters that it plans to launch an Islamic Finance (IF) internet portal in 2010 is a clear affirmation of the commercial significance to the global economy of the growing interest in IF and banking. It confirms the attraction of a market estimated at between 1.5 billion and 1.8 billion Muslims globally. Financially, the market is valued at £800 billion while forecasts of annual growth are between 15% and 20%. But the establishment of Islamic financial products by big Western banks and financial institutions also offers a strong ethical dimension to non-Muslim participants seeking a possible alternative to a financial system. Suggestions that the sub-prime crisis could not have taken place under the Islamic system resonate strongly with some commentators and it is not too difficult to understand why. IF is characterised by an ethical system, under which both an overriding ethical fairness, and sharing of risk must be present. Profit is a vital element of Islamic business dealing but it must be derived from trading activity. Profits derived from uncertainty are off limits. Therefore, it can be argued that toxic debt of the kind that triggered the global credit crunch simply could not occur within the Islamic system. But there is a drawback for both customers and providers. Few individuals have the skills necessary to understand the requirements for Shariah compliance, the complexities of Islamic commercial law and the technical Arabic terminology, which is unique to this financial sector.
Establishing Islamic financial products requires ratification from Muslim scholars at the highest level and the ultimate issue of a fatwa to that effect. Outside Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, London is regarded as an innovative global hub of Islamic financial expertise, with a number of institutions, including HSBC Amanah and Islamic Bank of Britain, involved and with professional firms such as Linklaters, Lovells, PricewaterhouseCoopers and BDO providing advice. Eddie George, the former governor of the Bank of England and the Government have been pioneers of IF in Britain, offering significant support but demand for professional skills is almost certain to outstrip their availability as the market grows. Products available include home loans, takaful (insurance), current accounts and commercial investment structures. For example, investment loans for residential property. Soon, it is expected that Britain’s will be the first Western government to provide sukuk (bonds). But the market challenges remain very real. There is widespread unfamiliarity with the market, coupled with little expert media coverage. Add to this a limited product range and the lack of skilled IF specialists and the issues are clear. As the market continues to grow, there is a real opportunity for London and the UK to restore its reputation as a financial centre of excellence in the area of ethical IF. But there is an equally urgent need for greater understanding and more finance professionals with the necessary specialist skills. • The above article is by John Willsdon, a leadership and development specialist at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
ABOUT THE WORLD CONGRESS OF ACCOUNTANTS
CONGRESS THEME: ACCOUNTANTS: SUSTAINING VALUE CREATION
The WCOA is held under the auspices of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Since its inception in 1904, the World Congress has been held every five years since 1977 and every four years since 2002. It is the foremost international event for the accountancy profession. This is a highly respected and well-attended global forum attracting influential communities to share and debate important issues affecting the accountancy profession now and into the future.
Professional accountants operate in all facets of the global economy creating value and upholding business integrity in both the private and public sectors. In a world demanding short term solutions, professional accountants are challenged to sustain long term growth. Accountants lead strategic teams and are charged with creating value and safeguarding assets. They are an important part of organisational governance, and provide regulators and society with assurance that business has operated to the highest standards. This World Congress will explore issues related to key areas that directly and indirectly affect the continued relevance of the professional accountant in the coming years.
SEPTEMBER 2010
THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE WORLD CONGRESS OF ACCOUNTANTS 2010
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Technical Programme Highlights Meanwhile, Cho, the Chairman of CK Cho Ltd and president of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners of Hong Kong, will be speaking at the concurrent session on Forensic Accounting: Addressing the Challenges in Digital Environment.
In the recent marketing trip to Hong Kong the World Congress of Accountants (WCOA) 2010 team met up with Chi Kong Cho and Paul Chan who will be speaking on 9 and 10 November respectively. Chan, who is the Chairman of Crowe Horwath (HK) CPA Ltd, is one of the four panellists for the concurrent session on International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) for Small and Medium Entreprises (SMEs): Becoming a World Class Player.
Paul MP Chan,
Chairman, Crowe Horwath (HK) CPA Limited
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published its set of IFRS for SMEs in 2009. Chan and the other panellists will be reviewing the key elements of this set of standards and the success of overcoming the challenges in their adoption of the various jurisdictions. Chan, who feels honoured to be invited as one of the speakers, believes there should be more voices or participation from the Asia Pacific region in addressing issues affecting the accountancy profession.
Highly-publicised financial scandals, reported increases in occupational fraud and concerns over money laundering activities have heightened public expectations and the necessity to further define the auditor’s and accountant’s responsibilityies for detecting fraud within the digital environment.
The other two speakers are SGV & Co partner Leonardo J Matignas, Jr. and Independent Forensic Auditor-cum-President of the International Institute of Anti-Fraud Forensic Auditors, Juan Ivan Rogers.
Vickson Ncube,
This session will be chaired by Ndung’u Gathinji from the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya.
CEO,
The Eastern Central and Southern African Federation of Accountants (ECSAFA)
Juan Ivan Rogers,
Independent Forensic Auditor and President of the International Institute of Anti-Fraud Forensic Auditors (IIAFA)
Dr Paul Pacter,
Board Member, International Accounting Standards Board
Ewald Muller,
Senior Executive Standards, The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA)
Chi Kong Cho,
Chairman CK Cho Ltd, President Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Hong Kong
With digital investigations and crime regularly crossing international and language borders, there will be a lot of interest generated towards this session.
His session is chaired by the Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Central and Southern African Federation of Accountants (ECSAFA), Vickson Ncube. The other panellists involved in this session are IASB Board Member Paul Pacter, South African Institute of Chartered Accountants Senior Executive of Standards, Ewald Muller and The Federation of European Accountants Vice President, Petr Kriz, who is also a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
He and the other panellists will be discussing how the accountancy profession has been able to address this challenge.
Petr Kriz,
VP, Financial Reporting, The Federation of European Accountants (FEE) and Partner, PwC, Czech Republic
Ndung’u Gathinji,
Institute of Certified Public Accountants (Kenya)
Leonardo J. Matignas, Jr.
Partner, SGV & Co. (A Member Practice of Ernst & Young Global)
SEPTEMBER 2010
THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE WORLD CONGRESS OF ACCOUNTANTS 2010
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Global Reach Lee also met up with the WCOA 2002 organising chairman Peter Wong who provided insightful tips on speakers arrangement as well as how to handle sponsors, important guests, logistics and security.
The World Congress of Accountants (WCOA) 2010 two-member team was in Hong Kong recently took the opportunity to meet up with its two of the gold sponsor counterparts there: ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and CPA Australia.
A meeting was also held with the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA), which is sending a delegation comprising 25 participants and exhibiting at the World Congress of Accountants.
Dr YC Lee, organising chairman of the WCOA 2010 expressed his gratitude for their unwavering support in promoting the event to their members in Hong Kong and China. The ACCA meeting was with its Corporate Communications Manager Carmen Lee, Head of Marketing for China, Tommy Chan and Members Relation Manager Jenny Ng.
A memento from one organising chairman to the other
The WCOA team 2010 met up with HKICPA Chief Executive Officer and Registrar Winnie Cheung, its Director of Communications Mindee Hansen and Director of Member and Corporate Services Patrick Tam.
Lee, who had his interview with South Morning China Post conducted at the ACCA office, remarked that accountancy qualification should be viewed as an “enabling tool that helps expand the other career possibilities across the finance sector to manufacturing and services”.
Cheung is a speaker in the concurrent session on Accounting Technicians – The Building Block of the Financial Reporting Chain chaired by KPMG Phoomchai Audit Practice of Thailand chairman Supot Singhasaneh.
Lee commemorated the ACCA meeting with a token of appreciation for Chan.
Exchange of memento between Lee and CPA Australia’s Senior Member of Knowledge and Events Manager for Greater China Division, May Wong
From left: Tam, Lee, Cheung, Hansen and Jenny Gong from the WCOA 2010 Secretariat
UAPAM pledges support The Union of Associations of Professional Accountants of Macau (UAPAM) will help to garner more accountants and auditors to attend the World Congress of Accountants (WCOA) 2010 that will be held in Malaysia for the first time. This was conveyed by its Vice President Leong Kam Chun to the visiting WCOA 2010 team comprising organising chairman Dr YC Lee and Jenny Gong. The team also met up UAPAM Vice Presidents Ho Mei Va and Stella Lok and its board members, Grace Cheung and Louis Cheong. UAPAM’s formation in 2006 brought together the Macau Society of Accountants, Macau Society of Registered Auditors, Macau Society of Certified Practising Accountants and Macau Society of Registered Accountants.
Group photo with UAPAM members
The union is currently led by President Chui Sai Cheong, the older brother of Macau’s Chief Executive (CE) Frederick Chui Sai On. Macau’s previous CE Edmund Ho, who is a certified public accountant, brought in 48 participants to the WCOA 2002 held in Hong Kong. Macau has 10 registered audit firms, 148 registered accountants and 119 auditors according to statistics in 2007.
THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE WORLD CONGRESS OF ACCOUNTANTS 2010
SEPTEMBER 2010
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WCOA 2010 Diary
MIA WCOA 2010 team working closely with strategic partners The Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) World Congress of Accountants (WCOA) 2010 Organising Committee recently held a second meeting with its strategic partners at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur to discuss as well as receive feedback on the progress, status and other teething matters related to the preparation of the event in November. The meeting was a follow up to an earlier meeting held in February when the WCOA 2010 Coordinating and Supporting Working Group was formed to receive support, assistance and active participation from various ministries, government bodies and agencies. Representatives from the various sub-committees presented and explained their roles and support function in facilitating the various logistics involving protocol measures, health and safety issues and other administrative requirements in relation to the World Congress.
Sponsorship & Exhibition Opportunities As at press time, almost 50 companies have signed up as exhibitors at the World Congress of Accountants (WCOA) 2010, just the platform you need to raise your company profile to a truly global audience. At the exhibition area, there will be Internet hotspots, a specially constructed presentation stage, state-of-the-art indoor golf simulator, and more. We look forward to welcoming more companies participate in our sponsorship and exhibition packages. For more details, contact Gregg Parker at gregg@aosconventions.com.
Discover Malaysia
Chairing the meeting was MIA Head of Communication Iszudin Md Amin. Also present from MIA Chief Executive Officer Rosli Abdullah, its Executive Director Ho Foong Moi and Chief Operating Officer, SK Yap, who is also the WCOA 2010 Conference Director. Approximately 30 representatives were present during this briefing to update on information, progress and development the WCOA 2010 which will be held from 8-11 November. Rosli expressed his gratitude to the present strategic partners for their co-operation extended to-date and their roles played in preparation for the World Congress. He also thanked the representatives for their commitment and contribution to make the event a successful one. More information on the WCOA 2010 is available in its website, www.wcoa2010kualalumpur.com.
Putrajaya Malaysia’s federal administrative centre, Putrajaya, is about a 50-minute drive out of Kuala Lumpur. Reflecting its theme of “Garden City, Intelligent City”, the government complexes housed here are surrounded by green open spaces and waterways. Sited on the main hill of Putrajaya is the Perdana Putra complex, which houses the office of Malaysia’s Prime Minister (PM), the offices of the Deputy PM and Chief Secretary to the government. The architectural design of this six-storey natural stone clad complex is influenced by Malay, Islamic and European cultures.
News on WCOA Gold Sponsors
CPA Australia offers 16 CPD hours CPA Australia is awarding all members attending the World Congress of Accountants (WCOA) 2010 up to 16 continuing professional development (CPD) hours in addition to CPD hours claimable for any relevant structured reading associated with the WCOA.
The complex overlooks the scenic Putrajaya lake, Dataran Putra and Putra Mosque, a pinkish mosque which incorporates local architectural elements as well as Persian and Arab-Islamic influences. For those who have more time on their hands, a leisurely cruise on Putrajaya Lake in a gondola-like vessel designed in the style of traditional perahu or boat is highly recommended. For the World Congress of Accountants delegates, one of the half day tour options takes you to Putrajaya and the 14-hectare Agricultural Heritage Park.
The calibre of international speakers and topical programme at the WCOA make it an excellent choice for meeting CPD requirements, while networking with some of the most influential and innovative minds in the global accountancy profession.
The latter is a resource centre and living museum which showcases the country’s glorious agriculture era. You can find here a variety of fruit trees and plants such as mango, rubber, cocoa, palm oil, durian, jackfruit and herbs.
CPA Australia members wishing to claim CPD hours for the WCOA can simply record their attendance in their online CPD diary or in their own record of CPD activities.
A demonstration on the rubber manufacturing process from the time it is tapped and churned out as fully smoked sheets will be shown during the tour.