Simon Garnett
Simon Garnett
As a trust accountant working for the Royal Bank of Canada Trust Company (Cayman) Limited - a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada - Simon Garnett is kept pretty busy. "As well as being responsible for producing financial statements for our trust and managed company clients, I also work with the senior management team on ad hoc projects," he explains. "Recent projects I have been involved with have included operational risk evaluations and monitoring the transition of files and statements from a new business acquisition".
For Simon, finding training and development opportunities in the Cayman Islands can be quite challenging. "I get a lot of information on courses, from the ACCA Caribbean office, for example on fraud prevention or internal controls, which would be relevant to me. However, the majority of these courses are located in the east Caribbean - Jamaica or Trinidad & Tobago – and, as the Cayman Islands are quite remote, the costs and arranging time out from my job can be a barrier”.
However, there are some local courses available in the Cayman Islands. “We have courses on anti-money laundering and refresher courses available to us to ensure that we keep up to date with the latest regulations. In addition, banks and law firms on the islands run evening seminars, especially when new pieces of legislation are about to be implemented,” explains Simon.
Because of the offshore status of the Cayman Islands, most of the courses and seminars are focused on offshore financial situations. “In reality, the events and seminars don’t really cover the wider accountancy world,” he says. “For example, taxation has little impact on my life at the moment but it is important for me to keep up to date with the topic for my personal development.”
As with many employers, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) recognises that keeping up to date with training and development is a vital part of any job. In recognition, RBC offers internal courses and also maintains a knowledge library. “This is a huge reference library containing hard copy and electronic versions of a vast range of financial instruments, information on directives and general reference reading,” explains Simon.
When planning his training and development, Simon usually does this on an as-and-when basis. “Although,” he adds, “at the beginning of the year, I sat down with my manager to look at any internal courses that would be relevant to me. As a result of this, I attended a particularly relevant internal four-day accredited course in Miami on international estate and tax planning.”
The concentration of finance professionals on the islands makes for good networking opportunities. “The Cayman Islands Society of Professional Accountants (CISPA) holds monthly lunches and social events. Guest speakers talk about relevant issues to finance professionals in the Cayman Islands, for example a talk about the forthcoming European tax savings directive – due to be implemented in the Caribbean.”
For his future training and development Simon feels that while there is no shortage of reading and reference material available, he may fall down on completing verifiable CPD. “For my general training and development I would normally use the RBC knowledge library. I also read accounting and business, and we have access to Bloomberg in the office. I usually spend 15 minutes a day reading the main headlines to keep up to date. In addition, because I work in the Cayman Islands I am also sent Offshore Alert – a monthly e-newsletter outlining developments in the offshore world. However, verifiable CPD might be more difficult to obtain because of the lack of relevant courses available in the Cayman Islands.”
Feedback from ACCA
Simon need not worry about meeting the new CPD requirements even though he is based in a relatively remote location like the Cayman Islands. He is already engaging in a wide variety of professional development activities that will contribute to his CPD requirement.
A new scheme that recognises more than just courses
With a diverse and internationally-based membership, ACCA acknowledges that members will have different preferred learning styles and access to different learning and development resources. Therefore, ACCA Realise recognises a wide range of activities as relevant CPD including e-learning, work-based learning, research, reading and presenting, as well as the more traditional methods of CPD such as courses and events. ACCA recommends that its members engage in a range of activities and avoid relying too heavily on one type of activity. This should help to provide variety and maintain interest when members undertake training.
“Structured” CPD no longer a requirement
Simon expressed his concerns about completing enough classroom-based CPD to meet the requirements of the scheme. However, under the new CPD requirements, ACCA has removed the requirement for structured CPD, allowing for a wide range of CPD activities to be recognised.
Simon will not have to rely upon courses alone to fulfil his CPD requirement as all the activities in which he is currently engaged will contribute to fulfilling this.
Access for all
For Simon, access to courses can sometimes be an issue. Simon could consider internet-based courses, CD-ROM or video training as suitable alternatives to “traditional” types of courses, as well as the in-house and local courses he is already attending. Through ACCA Realise, a number of e-learning options are already available.