September
CHINA (MAINLAND)
The ‘CPA View' website carried a wide-ranging interview with ACCA President Dennis Yeates about globalisation, while the ‘China Financial & Economic News' reported that over 5000 students had passed all ACCA exams worldwide including 217 students on the Chinese mainland.
‘Guangzhou Daily / Xinhua News Agency' interviewed ACCA's Chief Representative of Guangzhou Office - Erica Chan – who said in the article that China lacks experienced financial professionals.
The Director of Jinan University's Accounting Department - Dr. Hu – was interviewed for ‘Sina' website, ‘Southcn' website and ‘Private Economy News' saying he was confident that the ACCA training programme, which will begin in September, would be a huge success. He also said that the ACCA qualification is an international mark of quality.
CARIBBEAN
The ‘Trinidad Express' reported on more than 50 years of ACCA's presence in the Caribbean, and profiled key relationships of the office based in Trinidad and Tobago.
HONG KONG
ACCA's Hong Kong Deputy President Morison Chan Jiu was interviewed in the ‘Jiu Jik'. He discussed the broad career opportunities of accounting professionals such as auditing, tax and even up to the level of CEO to lead a company. He encouraged young professionals to take the opportunities to experience different kinds of work nature in the field and continue to equip themselves.
‘Atchinese.com', ‘CRI on-line.cn', ‘Hong Kong Economic Times' all wrote about accounting and finance salary trends in Hong Kong, referencing ACCA's global qualifications.
‘Recruit', ‘Ming Pao Daily' covered the recent ACCA Michael Page salary and skills survey findings, revealing the buoyant recruitment market of accounting and finance sectors, as well as the optimistic trend of salary increases in these sectors.
IRELAND
‘Metro', ‘Irish Examiner' and ‘The Irish Independent' reported on ACCA Ireland's first Shared Services Conference, held to highlight the importance of the shared services sector to the economy of Ireland. The sector comprises payroll, accounts, pensions, property management, procurement and technical support.
ACCA figured strongly in Ireland's ‘Sunday Business Post' newspaper in a series of various articles about accountancy and related subjects. Clare Minchington wrote an article about business ethics; Brian McEnery's election to the ACCA International Council was also covered; ACCA's Platinum employer status was explained, as was ACCA Realise; meanwhile Dublin Business School extolled the virtues of ACCA student success and an employee of AIB Corporate Banking explains how the ACCA qualification helped his career development.
MALAYSIA
Dennis Yeates said in interviews for the ‘The Malaysian News Agency' and the ‘Malay Mail' that the duties of accountants are being stifled by the increasing bureaucracy and regulatory mechanisms put in place to prevent corporate financial wrongdoings. Yeates also said Malaysia would require about 65,000 qualified accountants by 2020, three times more than the existing number. He was confident the target could be reached as the country has a vibrant accountancy community.
Significant media coverage including ‘The Star', ‘Eastern Times', ‘See Hua Daily News', ‘Utusan Sarawak', ‘United Daily News', 'Sin Chew Daily', the ‘Borneo Post', ‘News on TV1' and ‘News on TV2' about the launch of ACCA Malaysia Environmental and Social Reporting Awards (MESRA) 2006. The news was also featured on the front page of ‘Eastern Times' and ‘Utusan Sarawak'.
RUSSIA
‘National Financial Reporting Systems' magazine ran an extensive interview with Head of ACCA in Russia about education in the country, the new ACCA qualification and Russian DipIFR.
RWANDA
‘Rwanda Television (TVR)' interviewed John Nyakahuma, Head of Corporate Development for East Africa and Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana, Rector, School of Finance and Banking, on the implications of the increasing number of ACCA graduates and students on the growth prospects for the Rwandan profession and economy. The Rwanda Students' society Annual General Meeting and the prize-giving ceremony for the three new Rwandan Affiliates were also covered.
SINGAPORE
‘Business Times' published its second installment of ‘The Business Times Corporate Transparency Index (CTI)', carried out jointly with ACCA and the Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting Centre (CGFRC). It took into account 99 companies listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) who released their results between Jan 31 and March 31 2006.
‘MediaCorp Newsradio 93.8FM' covered the launch of ACCA Career Pathways-Asia Pacific, saying it would benefit members, affiliates and students who work in banking and finance in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. It also mentioned the collaboration between ACCA and Securities and Investment Institute. ‘Channel News Asia's Singapore Business Tonight programme reported on the SII as well, saying SII is anticipating strong demand for skilled staff in Asia's booming financial sector and is aiming to make Singapore its gateway into the region. It also mentioned the signed agreement with ACCA and included sound bites from both Allen Blewitt and Simon Culhane.
‘The Business Times' reported on the launch of Pathways in the Asia Pacific region – its benefits to ACCA members, affiliates and students working in banking and finance in the region. It quoted Allen Blewitt as saying that the pilot scheme will be monitored, with the intention of developing similar initiatives for professionals working in other important sectors in the region.
SOUTH AFRICA
Nirri Nair, Head of ACCA South Africa, was interviewed in ‘CEO Magazine' talking about ACCA's new qualification which “ensures accountants are fit for business” because it places professionalism, ethics, corporate governance and workplace competence at its heart.
UNITED KINGDOM
Allen Blewitt was quoted in the ‘Financial Times' countering a suggestion from Neil Lerner - global head of regulatory issues at KPMG – that the long term interests of the accountancy profession would be best served by having a single voice, rather than six, to interface with government, standard-setters and regulators. Blewitt said: “The bodies need more collective action to demonstrate that they are adding value. Having several accountancy bodies is good for the profession. You wouldn't want a monopoly. The lawyers have suffered from that.”
The ‘Express on Sunday' carried criticisms from Chas Roy-Chowdhury about the earlier cut-off deadline for tax credits, moved this year to August 31 from September 30. He said: “Its timing is ridiculous for many families. Many of those claiming will have children and be more concerned with getting them ready to go back to school than sorting out their paperwork. Others might be on holiday. It's a shambles that the date was moved in the first place.”
‘Professional Pensions' magazine, ‘Birmingham Post', ‘South Wales Argus', ‘Walsall Express', ‘Wolverhampton Express & Star' all carried coverage of ACCA's call for pensions reform here in the UK.
Chas Roy-Chowdhury appeared on a live phone-in on BBC Radio 4's ‘Money Box' programme about the impending self-assessment deadline. He was part of a panel of experts which also included John Whiting, partner at accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers and Jane Moore from the Tax Faculty of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The international newswire ‘Reuters' quoted Chas Roy-Chowdhury in an article about UK based mobile phone operators losing a European Courts of Justice case to reclaim billions of euros of taxes from their purchase of the 3G phone licences in Britain.
Regional newspapers ‘The Northern Echo', ‘Darlington and Stockton Times', ‘Walsall Express & Star', ‘Birmingham Post', ‘Widnes Evening News' all carried various news items about workplace legislation which came into force on 1 October, with advice and guidance from John Davies.
The free, morning business paper ‘City AM' quoted Maureen Chambers, senior business manager for ACCA, about the popularity of accountancy as a career choice. Maureen gave advice to people who want to become qualified accountants and discussed the costs of study. Recruitment consultants Robert Half Finance & Accounting were also quoted in the article.
Victoria Jonson, senior policy adviser at ACCA was quoted in an article in ‘The Sunday Times' about how businesses can gain funding from a variety of sources. Jonson said that businesses should seek help from an accountant, saying: “It's really important to consider the mix of finance, not just the level of finance.”
Some 40,000 people called anonymously the Government's Tax Evasion Hotline since it was launched in April, Chas Roy-Chowdhury told ‘The Daily Telegraph'. Roy-Chowdhury said that there was a very real concern that people are using the hotline as a revenge tool to get their own back on neighbours, ex-partners or colleagues.
‘The Mail on Sunday' launched a survey on the impact of inheritance tax on families, and the steps they are taking to mitigate its effects. Chas Roy-Chowdhury said in the article that if other taxes were increased they would cover the revenue lost through the abolition of inheritance tax.
Regional newspapers ‘Walsall Express & Star', ‘Wigan Evening Post', ‘Coventry Evening Telegraph' and the ‘Wolverhampton Express & Star' all ran a story from ACCA reminding readers that the tax self assessment deadline was fast approaching.
In the ‘Daily Express' Chas Roy-Chowdhury commented on the fact that families who had applied since February for tax credit overpayments to be discounted are being treated differently from those who applied before because the HMRC has introduced a more stringent “reasonableness” test. He described it as an ‘unfair system' calling on the Revenue to ensure that people who find themselves in this situation are treated equally.
Comment from ACCA on the demise of the cheque book in the high street was commented on by ‘The Times'. ACCA said elderly people will suffer most from the changes as the over 65s tend to use cheques most. The story was also covered in local media including ‘Birmingham Post', ‘Cambridge Evening News', ‘Wolverhampton Express & Star', ‘Walsall Express and Star'.
‘The Times online' reported ACCA's comments about the proposed shake-up of the SBS, calling for the integration of government bodies “that supposedly support the small business sector. In England there is a plethora of support agencies – including the SBS, Regional Development Agencies, Business Links and Learning Skills Councils. Their services overlap and their activities are poorly co-ordinated”.
Allen Blewitt wrote an article for ‘Accountancy Age' about pensions provision in the UK, saying ACCA is concerned about the current system and that difficult decisions need to be made urgently to offer people certainty for their financial futures.
In Scotland, ‘The Herald' newspaper reported that a Glasgow-based accountant had won ACCA's Silver medal. Kathleen McGinley, who works for asset manager Resolution, came second out of more than 37,000 students around the world. Kathleen was quoted as saying she was delighted to have won the award particularly in light of the status that ACCA has worldwide.
Chas Roy-Chowdhury wrote a ‘top-tips' article for the popular ‘www.bbc.co.uk/money' website about coping with tax self assessment and how to handle all the related form filling.
Chas Roy-Chowdhury was quoted in ‘The Scotsman' and ‘The Daily Mirror' about meeting the pressures of 30 September's tax deadline. The stories also appeared on each newspaper's website.