April
CAMBODIA
ACCA Cambodia's contributed to a debate on business ethics in Cambodia on CTN's (Cambodia Television Network) ‘Business Edge' programme. ACCA's work on ethics was mentioned in this debate.
CHINA (MAINLAND)
ACCA's joint survey with Mercer was reported in ‘Accountant Magazine'. The survey revealed that Shanghai's foreign investment companies have a finance staff skill-gap.
In a member interview in ‘How Magazine' Patty Hu shared her experience of obtaining the ACCA qualification.
ACCA's job hunting competition received coverage in ‘Private Economy News' and ‘Business Daily', and ‘Youth Daily'. The third Job Hunting Camp and Competition started in Shanghai in April, providing career guidance for university students from Hangzhou, Nanjing and Shanghai.
ETHIOPIA
‘Capital' reported an initiative to establish a society for Human Resources professionals working in Ethiopia, which is to be supported by ACCA Ethiopia. ACCA stated that it is supporting the initiative because it would benefit the wider workforce if HR professionals could keep abreast of the most recent issues in the sector.
Following the workshop organised by ACCA in Addis Ababa which looked at corporate governance and corporate social responsibility, the ‘Reporter' newspaper carried an interview with senior ACCA member Japheth Katto, CEO of the Capital Markets Authority of Uganda.
EUROPE
ACCA's European Manifesto launch in Brussels received coverage in the ‘EU Reporter'. The article highlighted speeches at the event by Britain's Ambassador to Brussels, Sir John Grant, and EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy. ACCA President Christopher Forster launched the manifesto, saying it contained itemised recommendations for boosting employment, encouraging entrepreneurism and boosting the economies of the 25 member states.
GHANA
‘The Ghanaian Times' reported on the ACCA Ghana Branch Committee's one-day seminar on the Financial Administration Act. Director General of the Internal Audit Agency, Mr. Patrick Nomo (FCCA) who also chaired the event stated that improved financial management could save Ghana's economy about 30% of public funds used.
GUYANA
The global problem of Money laundering was addressed at a seminar hosted jointly by ACCA and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana (ICAG) which was reported in ‘Kaieteur News'. Implementation of methods to combat this situation were called for and participants were briefed by ACCA on ways to detect money-laundering activities and measures that could be taken when such situations are suspected.
HONG KONG
The semi-final of the ACCA HK job-hunting competition received coverage in ‘South China Morning Post', ‘Hong Kong Economic Times' and ‘HKET'.
An interview with President of ACCA HK on companies' annual reports appeared in ‘Oriental Daily'.
In a live interview with ACCA at ‘Metro Finance Radio' Hong Kong's taxation policies were discussed and this reported in Metro Finance Radio, RTHK, etnet.com.hk.
An ACCA article on job interview skills was carried in ‘Ming Pao Daily'.
IRELAND
ACCA has made a submission on the need for legal protection for the term accountant and for the risks created by unqualified accountants. Interviews took place on ‘Clare FM' and national radio ‘RTE Radio'.
RUSSIA
Support of ACCA training by employers is highly valued by finance staff, according to an interview in the ‘St Petersburg Times' with ANCOR recruitment consultant.
SINGAPORE
‘Business' ran ACCA's feedback on one of their recent articles which stated that the new breed of CFOs running top Singapore companies are not trained accountants. ACCA commented that strictly speaking the finance function covers more capital raising and mergers and acquisition and the accounting function focuses on how financial information about the company is communicated to others.
ACCA was part of a three person panel that discussed the pros and cons of quarterly reporting on MediaCorp's ‘Newsradio 93.8FM'.
‘Investment Craft' carried three articles with reference to ACCA. An interview with ACCA's Chief Executive, an article called ‘Accounting for Accountability' which discussed the Chief Executive's views on what to consider before investing in a company as well as his views on the development of ACCA and an article which highlighted ACCA's new 2007 syllabus.
The 450 successful candidates who passed the Dec 2005 final examinations were congratulated by the ACCA and ICPAS in an advertisement ‘The Straits Times'.
‘Smart Investor' featured an article on the ACCA SESRA Ceremony. It reported Singapore Polytechnic's win and why it deserved the Best Environmental Report.
SOUTH AFRICA
In an article in ‘Business Day' ACCA comments on the provisions of the Auditing Profession Act, relating to the new audit regulator's power to accredit the education and training programmes of professional bodies. ACCA's position that the conduct of an examination by the regulator constitutes a conflict of interest was shared by the Big Four audit firms and the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants also featured in the article.
A lioness named Sarabi has been adopted by ACCA on behalf of all accounting students doing the ACCA course the unveiling of the ACCA's name board at the zoo was reported in ‘Pretoria News'.
UNITED KINGDOM
‘Evening Standard' reported that newly qualified accountants are in a strong negotiating position with employers, with a widening range of opportunity for them and quoted ACCA extensively on this topic.
The Government's decision to levy tax on commonly used trusts, which had been announced in the Budget came under scrutiny. The decision would affect millions of wills and insurance policies and the trusts being targeted are often used to plan for the future. The ACCA joined forces with the Law Society, Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, Chartered Institute of Taxation and ICAEW to campaign for wider consultation before it is implemented. There was coverage of this issue in The ‘Financial Times', ‘The Times', ‘Daily Express' and ‘The Herald' (Scotland). The ‘Sunday Telegraph' stated that ACCA estimates that one million people will need to check their estate planning arrangements, at an estimated cost of £250 million, following the radical changes in the taxing of trusts.
A letter from ACCA to the ‘Financial Times' discussed ACCA's report on mutual companies and suggested that diversity has been a strong feature of the UK financial services sector and demutualisations have weakened.
ACCA was quoted on the importance of donors using gift aid, which can boost donations to charities by 28% in the ‘Daily Express'.
The ‘Daily Mail' restated ACCA's advice on the need for lottery syndicates to have a written agreement on who might share any winnings is carried in response to a reader's question.
‘Bournemouth Daily Echo' and the ‘Middlesborough Evening Gazette' covered a press release about changes to the legal standing of Landlords, saying they could be hit by fines if they don't comply with new controls for the private rented sector.
ACCA's comments on legislation were covered in the ‘Birmingham Post', regarding Age Discrimination and ‘The Contract Flooring Journal' regarding fundamental changes to the Construction Industry Scheme to take place in about one year.