Financial Management (UK) articles from October 2003

Financial Management (UK) archives from October 2003

Sharp decline in M&A deals.(merger and acquisition)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Merger and acquisition activity has reached a 10-year low in the UK, despite a marked increase in inward investment. The average quarterly value of mergers and acquisitions by British companies so far in 2003 is 3.3 billion [pounds sterling],...

Firms hail rescue law reforms: but the changes may mean a less lenient Inland Revenue.(Insolvency Legislation)
October 1, 2003... The Enterprise Act 2002, introduced last month to improve corporate recovery procedures, has been widely welcomed as a boost for the UK's "rescue culture." "This legislation makes the rescue of an insolvent company more straightforward...

Low risk, high returns.(risk management)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Businesses with stronger risk management practices than their peers perform better financially, according to a study of more than 400 publicly quoted companies with a combined market capitalisation of 2,100 billion [pounds sterling]. The...

UK firms lag on reforecasting: the spirit may be willing, writes Charlotte Parry, but the flesh is decidedly weak.(Budgeting)
October 1, 2003... Finance directors might talk about reforecasting their budgets more frequently, but most are failing to do it, according to research by Cranfield School of Management. More than 70 per cent of financial managers surveyed by Cranfield last...

More than half of the companies exhibiting at the Softworld Accounting & Finance exhibition in Birmingham last month launched new products or services.(Softworld Accounting and Finance)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... More than half of the companies exhibiting at the Softworld Accounting & Finance exhibition in Birmingham last month launched new products or services. PS Financials introduced PS ProActive, a workflow management system that's designed to...

Presidential engagements.(Institute News)
October 1, 2003... Presidential engagements 8 Oct Area 1 retired members' lunch, CIMA HQ, London 10 Oct CIPFA south-east dinner, London 15 Oct Undergraduate prizegiving event, London 15 Oct Undergraduate...

Obituary.(Institute News)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
October 1, 2003... It is with regret that we announce the death of Edwin Brown FCMA, aged 95, on 25 May. One of the first members to receive the institute medal in 1958, Brown was a council member for 10 years. He leaves a widow and two sons. CIMA acknowledges...

Southern Africa regionalisation.(Institute News)
October 1, 2003... The first in a series of branch briefings on regionalisation proposals for southern Africa took place on 26 July at the Waterfront in Port Louis, Mauritius. Malcolm Furber, representative for Area 10, addressed an audience of 56 members and...

Malaysia presents certificates.(Institute News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... CIMA Malaysia Division recently presented new certificates to its training partners at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. Five companies that are CIMA Training Quality Partners received certificates under the new CIMA Training scheme....

CIMA Singapore launches web portal.(Institute News)(CIMA Singapore and C&K Management)(ManageMentor.com )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... In line with the Singapore government's strategy to establish Singapore as a global e-learning and education hub, CIMA Singapore and C&K Management, India, have joined forces to provide professionals at home and abroad with an internet-based...

Concluded conduct cases investigation committee.(Disciplinary cases)
October 1, 2003... David William Dickson Mabon, passed finalist (no 9220232) David Mabon appeared to have failed to comply with the laws of the institute in describing himself on his CV as a member of CIMA when he had not yet been admitted to membership,...

Disciplinary committee.(Disciplinary cases)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Colin James McCaig, registered student (no 8189687) The disciplinary committee considered a complaint made by Minster Fuels, noting that a judgment was made on 16 October 1996 whereby Colin McCaig was required to pay Minister Fuels 65,364...

Institute welcomes 60,000th member.(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)(Sarah Webb)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Sarah Webb, finance analyst in the Risk and Revenue Sharing Partners division at Rolls-Royce, has been named as CIMA's 60,O00th member this month. She was initially attracted to the qualification by CIMA's strengths in the manufacturing sector,...

New members celebrate in Birmingham.(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Claire Ighodaro, CIMA president, congratulated guests at a new members' celebration held at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery on 8 September. She then announced that Sarah Webb, finance analyst at Rolls Royce, was the institute's 60,000th...

CIMA facts and figures.(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... * 1919. The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants is founded to provide the information required to plan and manage modern businesses. * 1972 Its name is changed to the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants. * 1975. The...

Hospitality bent.(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... The article "Hotels plan sector-wide ABC model" (September) was interesting. Decision-makers need to appreciate that traditional standard accounting systems are of limited use for decision-making, because they do not factor in customer-driven...

The cheques for the posts.(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... "Spent forces" (September) argues that shareholders have become "willing to do something" about excessive payments to failed directors. I fear that this is complacent. There have been a few outcries against outrageous abuses, and many more are...

Material whirl.(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... I recently attended an accounting hygiene course--a new form of evangelism that involves revising basic accounting principles to re-emphasise good practice. There was a section on the relevant Gaap rules, updated to include emerging issues, but...

Can't stand the carapace: if you thought the concept of the shell company was a thing of the 20th century, think again. Malcolm Howard explains why this destructive phenomenon could be making a comeback.(City)
October 1, 2003... I remember, as if it were yesterday, a lecture given on shell companies--and I'm going back 30 years to a time when I was grappling with my management accounting exams. The concept was simple enough, but those perpetrating such schemes did seem...

Hope springs eternal: forecasters are becoming increasingly optimistic about the chances of healthy global growth over the coming year. David Ross examines the prospects for the world's leading economies.(Economics)
October 1, 2003... After three years of below-par performance since the .the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, the world economy is poised for faster growth next year. But ever-increasing consumer debt, especially in the UK, is lurking menacingly in the background....

Unequal marriages: too many customers see co-operation as a way to gain strategic advantage over the supplier. David Allen asks why more management accountants aren't involved in managing the deals.(Management)(Column)
October 1, 2003... The old management culture, based on command and compliance, was characterised by confrontation between capital and labour; between levels of management; between functions; and even between businesses and their customers and suppliers. In...

The third way.(marginal growth rate, internal rate of return, modified internal rate of return)
October 1, 2003... The marginal growth rate (MGR) forms part of the net present value profile, which is the financial evaluation element of the financial appraisal profile model, a relatively new approach that's becoming increasingly popular. Frank Lefley...

The right stripes? Six years on from the dramatic meltdown on Asia's tiger economies, the region is at last re-emerging as a genuine target for western investment. in the first of a series of features focusing on Asia in this issue, Cathy Hayward compares how far the major players have progressed on the road to recovery.(Focus On Asia)
October 1, 2003... In the early 1990s Asia attracted almost half of all foreign investment in the developing world. But in mid-1997 overseas investors suddenly lost confidence in securities and left the region in droves. The impact was immediate and catastrophic:...

Pragmatic for the people.(Sars and Chinese economy)
October 1, 2003... China's late leader, Deng Xiaoping, said of the journey towards capitalism that 'it doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice'. By his death in 1997 he had presided over two decades of expedient economic reform,...

In the red: although joint ventures with western companies are starting to bring modern management accounting techniques into China, the profession as a whole is still woefully underdeveloped. Russell Brown explains why the Chinese accountant's lot is not a happy one.(China)
October 1, 2003... Accountants in China have a rather tough time. They are often viewed by senior management as expensive cost centres with little real value to add. Their image is a throwback to the days when they were seen as numbercrunchers, required only to...

OK in HK: Hong Kong has had its fair share of economic problems over the past quarter, including Sars, spiralling unemployment and a big budget deficit. but confidence is returning now that the region is free of the virus. Norman Lyle reports on Hong Kong's recovery, bolstered by its new free-trade agreement with mainland China.(Hong Kong)
October 1, 2003... Hong Kong, the world's tenth-largest economy and the freest--has had a challenging yea,'. After an impressive start in the first quarter, with real GDP growing by 4.5 per cent, the region suffered the shock of Sars. But nothing dampens the...

Majestic progress: India's economy has come on in leaps and bounds overthe past 10 years, but companies on the subcontinent will have to move ever more quickly to keep up with the pace of change. Reet Chaudhuri, Manish Mohnot andNarayan Seshadri investigate the 'Red Queen effect'.(India)
October 1, 2003... "Well, in our county," said Alice, still panting a little, "you'd generally get to somewhere else if you ran very fast for a long time, as we've been doing." "A slow sort of country!" said the Red Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all...

Tea and sympathy: the political agreement between Sri Lanka's government and the Tamil separatist movement last year ended two decades of bitter civil war. The peace accord has held so far, and certain areas of the economy are starting to feel the benefits, writes Shanthikumar Sadanandan--but there is a long way to go.(Sri Lanka)
October 1, 2003... "English cricket fans planning to visit Sri Lanka in November this year for the test and one-day series between the two countries are going to be hard pressed to find accommodation' So pronounced the newsreader of a popular radio station...

Malaise reversal: after a 20-year boom, Malaysia's miracle economy was hit hard by the Asian crisis. Attempts to stimulate growth are gaining results, but progress is slow.(Malaysia)
October 1, 2003... A sustained period of economic growth from 1976 to 1996 led Malaysia to be labelled a "miracle economy", along with countries such as South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia. The emphasis was on exports, and electronic components and other...

Intelligence quotient: the government has a task force reporting on it next month and the CBI has just issued recommendations on how it should be measured. But what exactly is human capital? Jim Matthewman explains what it is, why it should be measured--and why financial managers need to get involved.(How To Measure Human Capital)
October 1, 2003... Human capital is an organisation's stock of knowledge, technical skills, creativity and experience. It's a holistic view of how people combine, both formally and informally, to deliver business results. All organisations have their own...

Institute diary.(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)
October 1, 2003... OCTOBER Check the CIMA website and bookmark www.cimaglobal.com/main/about/local/europe for up-to-date event information in your area CENTRAL LONDON AND NORTH THAMES Contact: Suzie Leggett, members' support officer, tel: 020 8849...

Cash Bases Group.(On the move)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Philip Stone FCMA (above) has been appointed managing director of Cash Bases Group, a UK-based company manufacturing equipment for electronic point-of-sale systems.

DLA.(On the move)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Helen Marshall ACMA has been appointed to the international law firm DLA as a partner to develop the financial regulatory group. Marshall has worked at the Financial Services Authority for the past nine years and has been responsible for many...

Simon Ingram ACMA begins a year-long assignment as financial controller for Irish humanitarian aid organisation Goal.(On the move)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Simon Ingram ACMA begins a year-long assignment as financial controller for Irish humanitarian aid organisation Goal. He will be supporting Goal's activities in the north-east of Afghanistan, from the base in Kabul. He brings to the role...

Mazars.(On the move)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Howard Jones ACMA has joined Mazars as corporate tax director. Jones has worked as an insurance tax specialist for a number of years. He specialises in corporate tax for UK and international businesses in the broking, general insurance,...

BAA Lynton.(On the move)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Giles Salmon has been appointed financial controller at BAA Lynton. He previously worked at World Duty Free a BAA subsidiary.

Grant Thornton.(On the move)(George McCracken appointed)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... George McCracken is joining Grant Thornton to work with its Scottish head of tax. McCracken has over 20 years' experience of business taxation during which time he has advised companies of all sizes in both domestic and international tax...

Jewish Care.(On the move)(Sandra Hersh appointed as finance director )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Sandra Hersh (above) has been appointed finance director of Jewish Care, the largest health and social care charity for the Jewish community in the UK. She will be responsible for the financial management of over 70 centres and specialist...

PricewaterhouseCoopers.(On the move)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Mark Hunter and Melanie Butler have been promoted to the partnership of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Hunter has over 12 years' experience as a forensic accountant and has specialised in providing anti-money-laundering assistance to banking and...

The NEC Group.(On the move)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... John Hornby has been appointed finance director of The NEC Group. Previously he worked at Boots.com, where he held the post of managing director for three years.

Menzies Corporate Restructuring.(On the move)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Grewer, Claire Andrew Duncan has been appointed senior manager at Menzies Corporate Restructuring. Duncan has many years of international corporate restructuring experience and has worked in various countries, including Hong Kong,...

Health Case and Management.(On the move)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Martin Bangs has been appointed financial director of Health Case and Management. Bangs previously worked at Smith Bernal Worldwave as managing director.

SEEC.(On the move)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... William Lipsin is joining SEEC, a provider of composite applications and legacy transformation software as president and CEO. Lipsin has over 25 years of executive leadership, management, sales and marketing experience in the software, hardware...

Diary of events.(On the move)(Calendar)
October 1, 2003... IRIS Software--breakfast briefing for accountants 1 October, London Tel: 01753 212444 The Institute of Risk Management annual risk forum 2003 1-2 October, Cambridge Contact: riskforum@thelRM.org Storage Expo 2003 ...