Financial Management (UK) articles from March 2004

Financial Management (UK) archives from March 2004

Editorial comment.(management of corporate governance)(Editorial)
March 1, 2004... If winter is the time of our discontent, then spring should herald a period of renewed growth and optimism. This certainly seems to be true of the economy, where the green shoots of recovery are at last showing above the dead leaves of...

Old heads on young shoulders.(News Round-Up)(servey of business executives)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... If you are a CFO under the age of 46 or a CEO who hasn't yet hit 49, give yourself a pat on the back. Not only are you exceptionally talented; you are also younger than the average CIMA member in your job. High-flyers such as Andy Hornby, CEO...

Tax man gets charitable.(News Round-Up)(Inland Revenue's self-assessment tax return )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The Inland Revenue is preparing to make it easier for you to part with your money--and send it to a good cause. The new self-assessment tax return will make it possible to donate all or part of a repayment directly to charity. Taxpayers can...

Low-cost tax advice scheme.(News Round-Up)(TACS Club's tax consulting service)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A programme to help small accountancy firms avoid the cost of seeking tax guidance from the Big Four has just been launched. The TACS Club, set up by the TACS Partnership, is offering a seminar and support programme covering VAT, capital taxes,...

Charity calls for legislation on CSR: Christian Aid has accused major companies of hypocrisy.(Corporate Social Responsibility)(Shell Australia Ltd., British-American Tobacco Company Ltd. and Coca-Cola Co. (Atlanta, Georgia))
March 1, 2004... Big business has failed to show that it can put its own house in order when it comes to corporate social responsibility, according to Christian Aid. Too many firms are using their ethical guidelines as little more than a public relations...

IFAC steps up campaign to restore investors' faith.(News Round-Up)(International Federation of Accountants' corporate governance standards)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has agreed to launch a new set of initiatives--including a global review of corporate governance standards--in a bid to rebuild public confidence in corporate performance. CIMA's chief...

Expert spies a hole in the law: criminals will easily find a way round the regulations.(Money-Laundering)
March 1, 2004... The latest government regulations to tackle money-laundering will have only a limited impact on criminal activity, a leading fraud investigator has warned. Yehudah Barlev, director of Barlev Investigative Auditing, believes that the new...

Treasury comes clean.(News Round-Up)(cahnges to Money Laundering Regulations 2003)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The government has tried to ease concerns about its last-minute change to the Money Laundering Regulations 2003. The revised wording of regulation 2(2)m had prompted fears that thousands more "service provider" companies--including advertising...

CIMA visiting professor lecture.(News Round-Up)
March 1, 2004... This year's CIMA visiting professor lecture will be delivered by Professor David Larcker, Ernst & Young professor of accounting at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. The lecture, entitled "Performance measures: insights and...

Strong November exam results.(News Round-Up)(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The results of the November 2003 CIMA exams showed good performance in the UK, with particular improvements at intermediate level Finance (IFIN), Financial Accounting (IFNA), Business Taxation (IBTX) and Organisational Management (IORG),...

Fund plans to bail out pensioners: but experts query depth of pool for liquidated schemes.(Pensions)(Pension Protection Fund)
March 1, 2004... Government proposals to set up a pension pool for employees of companies that go into liquidation have received a cautious welcome. But experts are concerned that there are still holes in the plans. Announcing the new Pension Protection Fund...

CIMA puts ethics at the heart of its new syllabus.(News Round-Up)(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... It's official. The new-generation CIMA professional chartered management accounting qualification has been launched. After 18 months of intense research and development, the new syllabus was presented to tuition providers at a special "warm-up"...

Viscount discounts FTSE code: the Rothermere empire has been ignoring best practice.(Corporate Governance)(Viscount Rothermere refuses Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange's Combined Code, Daily Mail and General Trust)
March 1, 2004... Viscount Rothermere's publishing group is under fire for its refusal to comply with key recommendations of the Combined Code. An analysis of the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) annual report by Pensions Investment Research Consultants...

CIMA members honoured.(News Round-Up)(Gerrard Robinson, Paul Dermody, Wyn Jones, Nigel Reader and David Jordan of Chartered Institute of Management Accountants )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Five CIMA members were included in the New Year's honours list. Gerrard Robinson, who stepped down as chairman of the Arts Council last month, received a knighthood for services to the arts. Two members received OBEs: Paul Dermody, who retired...

Clarification.(News Round-Up)(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2004... In "Conversation kick start" (February 2003), the last sentence of the first bullet point under the subheading "Fixed assets, goodwill and brand value" should refer to a firm's ability to prove the estimated useful life of equipment or...

The quick and the dead.(Performance Management)
March 1, 2004... One of today's business axioms is that access to more timely information supports quicker decision-making, generating a time-based competitive advantage, writes Richard Barrett. Markets and businesses are dynamic entities, and the organisation...

Council approves new CIMA syllabus.(Institute News)(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)
March 1, 2004... Council met on 23 January at CIMA's headquarters in London and was presented with a report from the chief executive, Charles Tilley. He told members that the president's dinner held on 6 November at the Merchant Taylor's Hall, London, was a...

Conceptual artists: it's not often that financial managers are asked to give vent to their imagination, but that's what you need to do if you want to play an active role at the strategic level.(Management)
March 1, 2004... Back in the days when the business environment was relatively stable by current standards, the predominant level of management and control was tactical. Senior managers and even directors were preoccupied with questions starting with the word...

Sound as the pound: firm foundations are in place for economic recovery in the UK and forecasters are lifting their sights for 2004, despite interest rate increases. But, as David Ross reports, it's not so rosy in the eurozone.(economic development)
March 1, 2004... The Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC) raised UK interest rates from 3.75 per cent to 4 per cent at its meeting in February. The increase, which was the second in three months, was deemed necessary for two reasons. First, it was...

Up the right tree: many firms are focusing so much on corporate governance that they are neglecting the raison d'etre of business: performance, growth and value creation. Ruth Prickett reports on CIMA's collaboration with IFAC to design a guide to help boards restore the proper strategic balance.(Enterprise Governance)
March 1, 2004... After the storm, the calm. But any gardener who watched their carefully tended flowerbeds being washed away in February's floods knows there's no point deciding that in future you'll put everything you've got into better flood defences. These...

Concrete plans: they do say that Rome wasn't built in a day, but it's taken 20 years to get the government to consider introducing real-estate investment trusts (Reits) to encourage both institutional and private investment in the UK property market. Anita Howarth explains why Reits would be hard to beat as a way of helping to end the country's chronic housing shortage.(Business Property Investment)
March 1, 2004... The UK property industry has been built on patience. A big shopping mall in a city centre can take 20 years from start to finish; a major regeneration project may take even longer. Such experiences have given industry leaders a stoicism that...

Docket science: gross inefficiency in document production has become a major problem for many companies in the European Union. Stephen Palmer explains how it has come about and suggests some simple methods for solving the 'documess'.(Business Process Efficiency)
March 1, 2004... Document production has now become a board-level issue. Why? Because in most European organisations the process is poorly controlled and wasteful--it's a "documess". This is a disturbing state of affairs in a corporate Europe overburdened by...

Integrate expectations: companies can squeeze significantly more value out of their shared-services centres if they pay closer attention to IT, cultural and geographical matters. Bob Leach offers his guide to making the most of this ubiquitous resource.(How To Optimise Shared-Services Centres)
March 1, 2004... Shared-services centres have created huge commercial advantages for organisations around the world. But, now that the benefits of consolidation and standardisation have been achieved, senior managers are starting to ask where the next...

Go figure: the idea of scrapping budgets, as mooted in FM's November 2003 issue, is another fad that won't stand the test of time, according to Malcolm Howard. He argues that budgeting is still an entirely worthwhile exercise--as long as you stick to five basic principles.(Finance Budgeting)
March 1, 2004... Back in the days when I was a CIMA student, the UK car industry was failing to produce good-quality, cars and most of my peers--about two-thirds--were failing the institute's exams. Had I been a management guru at the time, I might have written...

The colour of money.(Business Alternative Investments)(investment in art market)
March 1, 2004... When money is tight, shareholders frown on directors 'squandering' money on art, antiques and fine wines. But, as Ruth Prickett finds out, if you have an eye for quality and an instinct for good publicity, there are many ways to invest in the...

Institute diary.(Calendar)
March 1, 2004... MARCH 2004 CIMA visiting professor and MARG conference, 25 March 2004 The 2004 CIMA visiting professor lecture will be delivered by Professor David Larcker. It will be hosted by the London School of Economics and Political Science. The...

Diary of events.(Calendar)
March 1, 2004... Business continuity--the risk management expo 2004 9-10 March, London Contact: www.businesscontinuityexpo.com The treasurers' conference 22-24 March, Newport, Wales Contact: www.treasurersconference.com HR Ireland...

Wessex Trains.(On the move)(appointment)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... James Griffin FCMA (above) has been appointed finance director at Wessex Trains. Griffin joined the firm as finance manager, having held senior financial positions at regional newspapers as well as in the aerospace, defenee and telecoms...

Hull University Business School.(On the move)(appointment)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Michael Tayles FCMA has been appointed professor of accounting and finance at Hull University Business School. Previously Tayles was senior lecturer at the University of Bradford School of Management.

Paragon International Insurance Brokers.(On the move)(appointment)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Peter Ross ACMA has been appointed group finance director of Paragon International Insurance Brokers. Paragon specialises in the placement of errors, omissions, directors' and officers' insurance programmes for service firms in the US. Ross was...

NOV8.(On the move)(appointment)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Elaine Oakes ACMA has joined change consultancy NOV8 as director of corporate wizardry. Formerly controller of supply chain finance with B&Q, Oakes will be concentrating on the delivery of experiential training, process reinvention and culture...

Southdale Homes.(On the move)(appointment)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Guy Pearson ACMA has been appointed finance director of Southdale Homes. Pearson was previously Southdale's financial controller and will now assist in the company's strategic growth plans.

Eden Group.(On the move)(appointment)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Stephen Massey has been appointed non-executive chairman of Eden Group. Before joining Eden Massey he was chairman and chief executive of Prudential-Baehe International, where he was instrumental in building its European presence.

PricewaterhouseCoopers.(On the move)(appointment)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Stephen Camm (above) has been appointed head of UK tax investigations at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Since leaving the Inland Revenue's special compliance office in 1997, Camm has helped to develop the PricewaterhouseCoopers tax investigations...

Financial Training Company.(On the move)(appointment)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... James Wright has been appointed senior tutor at the Newcastle office of the Financial Training Company (FTC). Wright joins FTC from rival accountancy training provider BPP, having set up its Newcastle ofi]ce in 199Z He previously worked for...

CIPFA Health Panel.(On the move)(Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants appoints chairman)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Kevin Orford has been appointed chairman of the CIPFA Health Panel. Orford is currently director of finance at the West Midlands South Strategic Health Authority and a member of the board of the NHS Bank.

Venture Finance.(On the move)(official and employees of Venture Finance)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Earl O'Connell has been appointed business development manager at Venture Finance. Based in the Cambridge office, O'Connell will have responsibility for promoting Venture's invoice finance services across the region.

International Factors Group.(On the move)(officials and employees of International Factors Group)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Tony Cox from Venture Finance has been appointed chairman of the International Factors Group. The IFG helps small and medium-sized businesses to trade internationally.

PortWise.(On the move)(official and employees of Portwise)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Karen Slatford has been appointed non-executive director at PortWise, the European market leader in the secure socket layer virtual private network market. Slattbrd is the tbrmer vice-president and general manager worldwide sales and marketing...

Bank of Scotland Commercial Insurance.(On the move)(officials and employees of Bank of Scotland Commercial Insurance)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Peter Thompson has been appointed head of partnerships and commercial insurance at Bank of Scotland Commercial Insurance.