Financial Management (UK) articles from September 2007

Financial Management (UK) archives from September 2007

Strategic risk is the main threat to shareholder value, but too many firms are still failing to grasp this nettle.
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] No organisation is immune from the threat of bad publicity. Even Ribena, one of the world's most popular soft drinks, gave its parent company an unexpected headache recently. GlaxoSmithKline hit the headlines after...

Don't bank on butterflies.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... The March issue featured an article on research into customer relationship management in banking alongside a panel on previous studies that identified two types of customers whom the researchers labelled "barnacles" and "butterflies". The panel...

Cut along the bias.(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... Your article on auditing independence (June) was timely in that it raised the issue of how supposedly independent audit firms can offer management consulting or other advice to clients in an unbiased manner--and how few audit firms see any...

Market testing.(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... In the July/August issue our new president shared his opinion that participating in CIMA bureaucracy is more useful than doing an MBA. I have no idea how many members would agree with him and how many would find this view preposterous. But his...

Budget busters.(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... In his article on forward-looking finance (July/ August), Robert Shaw recommends avoiding the Beyond Budgeting movement. He states that "the thesis of Beyond Budgeting is that budgeting is backward-looking and should be abandoned". But the...

Stage fright.(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... I read with dismay the letter from CIMA student Natalie Leveille (July/August) suggesting that the institute change its approach to make life easier for students. Why is she not getting on immediately with her studies for the next stage instead...

Making a veld of difference.(educational aspects of financial services)
September 1, 2007... A CIMA member is pioneering a project to teach South African schoolchildren basic financial and business skills. Jody Hollis FCMA, director of Winning Teams, developed the scheme, which is funded by Standard Bank and Postbank and is now being...

Vive la difference.
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We hope that you like FM's new look. The magazine has been redesigned to bring it up to date, while retaining the elements that focus groups have identified as successful and making improvements that readers have...

CIMA is inviting proposals for research.(research of accountants)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CIMA is inviting proposals for research projects on "The role of the accountant in the organisational decision-making process". Proposals should be based on an in-depth study of accountants involved in this process...

The UK Cabinet Office has opened a consultation on a new 10m [pounds sterling] risk capital investment fund for social enterprises.(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... The UK Cabinet Office has opened a consultation on a new 10m [pounds sterling] risk capital investment fund for social enterprises. Proposals for operating the fund include a "pathfinder investment scheme" under which the government's...

Moulton and Laffin for conference.(first in ... All the latest news affecting accountants in business, including regulations updates)(Conference news)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Jon Moulton, managing partner of Alchemy Partners, and Simon Laffin ACMA (pictured), European retail adviser at CVC Capital Partners, will be discussing the future of private equity at CIMA's annual conference on...

Homicide law enacted.(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Risk advisers have urged UK employers to review their health and safety procedures, risk management practices and insurance cover after the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 received royal assent...

Exam results update.
September 1, 2007... The May 2007 results showed increases in pass rates at both managerial and strategic levels and on the TOPCIMA case study. The overall pass rates in five of the ten professional papers showed an improvement on November 2006 (P1, P4, P5, P6 and...

CIMA has responded to the Accounting Standards Board's consultation paper, "IASB ED of a proposed IFRS for SMEs", and to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) on its proposal to encourage the voluntary disclosure of qualified audit reports.(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... CIMA has responded to the Accounting Standards Board's consultation paper, "IASB ED of a proposed IFRS for SMEs", and to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) on its proposal to encourage the voluntary disclosure of qualified audit reports. It...

The ASB has published financial reporting exposure draft 21: "Related-party disclosures", which contains proposals to replace the UK standard FRS8 with a standard based on IAS24.(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... The ASB has published financial reporting exposure draft 21: "Related-party disclosures", which contains proposals to replace the UK standard FRS8 with a standard based on IAS24. The changes are expected to become law in 2009. UK and Irish...

The OECD has released two reports on private equity and hedge funds.(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... The OECD has released two reports on private equity and hedge funds. "The implications of alternative investment vehicles on corporate governance" examines the impact of private equity firms and hedge funds on the corporate governance and...

Nick Topazio, head of financial reporting at CIMA, will be speaking at IFRS 2007/8, a symposium for FDs and controllers, analysts and investors at the Marriott Grosvenor Square, London, on October 4.
September 1, 2007... Nick Topazio, head of financial reporting at CIMA, will be speaking at IFRS 2007/8, a symposium for FDs and controllers, analysts and investors at the Marriott Grosvenor Square, London, on October 4. The event will be chaired by FT...

The UK Office of the Third Sector is consulting on the extension of independent examination to small charitable companies, group accounts for charities and the reporting of public benefit in trustees' annual reports.(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... The UK Office of the Third Sector is consulting on the extension of independent examination to small charitable companies, group accounts for charities and the reporting of public benefit in trustees' annual reports. The consultation closes on...

Philip Yea FCMA Chief executive, 3i.(ONE 2 ONE)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Private equity is rarely out of the headlines these days. Are you a force for good or a sinister capitalist conspiracy? All we do is invest in companies and help them to grow. Where do you draw the line between...

Mates' rates: politicians will continue applying sloppy logic to research statistics if the more numerate among us don't challenge them, writes Ruth Prickett, who casts a critical eye over a recent policy announcement on marriage benefits.
September 1, 2007... The UK Conservative Party leader, David Cameron, proposed in July that married couples should receive a weekly tax credit of 20 [pounds sterling]. Cameron stated that more couples stayed together until their child was five years old if they...

From open season to open sesame: private equity firms have realised that self-imposed glasnost today could prevent further censure and tighter regulation tomorrow. Danielle Cohen analyses an industry with a big public relations job on its hands.(ethics)
September 1, 2007... If the term "business ethics" is, as some people believe, an oxymoron, then ethics and private equity are perhaps even less likely bedfellows. Certainly, recent reports in the national media would have us believe so, citing the buy-out houses'...

Private equity: a debt to society?(Statistical table)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For an industry that has typically operated well below the radar, the unprecedented level of scrutiny that private equity is facing must be an unwelcome intrusion into its day-to-day business: making pots of cash ...

Different class: Jo Holmes explains The CIMA difference and what it means for members, students and employers.(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)(www.cimaglobal.com)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] No matter whether you live in London or Johannesburg, Sydney or Colombo, you can't do better than study with CIMA if you want to help your business grow, according to independent research by the University of Bath's...

A favourable variance: CIMA's chief executive, Charles Tilley, recently addressed HM Treasury's advisers' conference in his capacity as chairman of its best-practice advisory panel on financial management, In the following edited extracts of his presentation he proposes a change of culture throughout Whitehall and explains how it can be achieved.(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)(Conference news)(Column)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In his first, brief speech as prime minister on the steps of 10 Downing Street, Gordon Brown used the word "change" eight times. As ministerial appointments and departmental reorganisations ensued, structural change...

Oratory lab: Khalid Aziz explains how you can become a more confident and effective public speaker.(career development)(Professional ethics and communication in corporate world)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Financial managers rise through the ranks largely as a result of their technical expertise, so they can often find themselves ill-equipped when it comes to communicating with the public. Many prefer the...

Islamic finance: firms seeking a slice of the growing Muslim market would be well advised to learn its complexities inside out, writes John Willsdon--which is where the CIMA certificate in Islamic finance comes in.(technical matters)(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants Centre of Excellence )
September 1, 2007... The Islamic finance industry may be new to many CIMA members, but this established niche market is set for an exponential expansion over the next few years. It's thought to be worth between 150bn [pounds sterling] and 250bn [pounds sterling],...

Transfer pricing: Danny Beeton and Guy Kersch explain why more and more FDs will need to query the transfer pricing basis for most items on their income statements and balance sheets.(technical matters)
September 1, 2007... Multinational businesses and their advisers view transfer pricing--ie, how they trade internally or calculate financial results for their branches--as the big tax issue. But, as European jurisdictions--including the UK--extend transfer...

Strategic audit: Tony Grundy explains why it's vital to give your strategy a health check.(technical matters)
September 1, 2007... Although financial audits are well established, the idea of scrutinising your business strategy in a similar way is less common. But some form of strategic audit may prove essential for ensuring that your company continues to generate value and...

Student one 2 one: Samran Habib, Treasury Assistant, Al Ahmadiah-Aktor.(study notes)(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] What does your job involve? Al Ahmadiah-Aktor is a multinational construction company. I joined only last month, moving to its offices in Dubai, where my responsibilities include preparing reports and...

TOPCIMA: is the Merbatty Boat Company's five-year plan watertight? Adrian Sims reviews the case study's pre-seen material and flags up some key issues.(PAPER P10)(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants )(Case study)
September 1, 2007... The Merbatty Boat Company (MB) has been trading successfully for 33 years. You may think that its future will be plain sailing and that its managers merely need to keep it on its current course. They may think so, too, but they'd be wrong....

Management accounting--performance evaluation: Bob Scarlett charts the rise of the Beyond Budgeting movement and explains how it differs from traditional approaches to financial control.(PAPER P1: ALSO OF INTEREST TO P3 CANDIDATES)(Beyond Budgeting Round Table)
September 1, 2007... Budgeting is what's known as a dependency model, whereby action is guided by fixed plans that are based on information that quickly becomes obsolete. It is most suitable for use in a centralised organisation where actions are decided at the top...

Exam notice.(study notes)(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)
September 1, 2007... Visit www.cimaglobal.com regularly for updates. November 2007 exam entry The exams will be held on Tuesday 20, Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22. Online entry for November's exams has been open since August 1, The standard closing date for...

Money-laundering: how to keep clean.(institute update)(Chartered Institute of Management Accountants)(Financial records management)
September 1, 2007... The UK's Money-Laundering Regulations 2007, which take effect on December 15, are clearer than the existing laws on matters such as record-keeping, internal procedures and training requirements. CIMA's members in practice are included in these...

Diary: forthcoming local events in the UK.(Calendar)
September 1, 2007... Visit www.cimaglobal.com/events for updates and a full list of events (all branch events are free unless otherwise stated). To book places, get in touch with the contact for the relevant area, unless otherwise stated. To book places on CIMA...

FP&A analyst: Rebecca Walker explains what a career in financial planning and analysis entails.(so you want to be ...)(Financial planning and analysis)
September 1, 2007... Financial planning and analysis (FP&A) is a cerebral role that's integral to any financial services company. My consultancy is seeing an increase in the number of such vacancies in the sector. FP&A teams sit in the middle office or finance...

... Last out.(Forum of Private Business called upon the new secretary of state for business)(global economy is rapidly changing in China, India, United Kingdom)(financial sector in the United Kingdom)
September 1, 2007... We rummage through in-box and postbag to bring you astonishing insights from the business world, If you've been on the receiving end of such wisdom and would like to pass it on, please send the most obvious and the most obscure in corporate...