CIMA invites members and students to comment on IESBA’s proposed changes to the code of ethics for professional accountants to address conflicts of interest.

The final UN Global Compact meeting of the year focused upon Rio +20 UN conference on sustainable development, scheduled for June 2012.  The day the UK UNGC participants gathered in London, the announcement of the outcome of the Durban climate change meetings was still fresh.  After protracted negotiation a level of agreement was reached.  

Countdown has begun to the end of 2011 and it is not a cheery time. Although with developments in Europe the markets are steadying, Christine Lagarde’s dire warning of a lost decade looms large.

The United National Global Compact (UNGC) meeting in London recently focused on anti-corruption initiatives globally.  In recognition of the overall cost to business, and wider economy and society of corrupt practices, principle ten of the UNGC is: "Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery."  

Companies that have an integrated approach to sustainability take a holistic approach to the strategy and management of the organisation; one that not only considers financial performance, but also the risks and opportunities inherent in the impacts of the organisation on the environment and society in which it operates, as well as the impacts of environmental and societal trends on the organisation.

Still thinking about time – as you might remember I have been mulling over what the term ‘long-term’ actually means.  Pretty important for an organisation like CIMA which sets great store by the creation of long-term sustainable success  and also when you consider the core theme of the CIMA World Conference in South Africa towards the end of this month (Business in tomorrow

In the past decade, there’s been a strategic shift in business management to embrace sustainability. The need for reporting and communicating the efforts being made has come alongside this trend.

Sustainability is no longer a voluntary part of business operations; a nice-to-have and “let’s do a bit of good on the side”. It’s become a business imperative with a focus on strategic implementation and sustainability becoming a way to create competitive advantage within the corporate workforce.

The UK's Department of Business, Innovation and Skills already has an open consultation on ‘Simpler Reporting for the smallest companies' but that has not stopped it turning its attention to reporting practices at our major companies.  The latest plans, aimed at giving investors greater clarity on how these companies are run and how executive pay is matched to performance, are contained in two consultation papers which were released simultaneously:

The Financial Reporting Council has published two reports that seek to increase transparency in corporate reporting.  Boards and Risk focuses on ensuring companies report primarily on strategic and major operational risks, rather than publish indiscriminate lists of risks that all companies face.  In Effective Company Stewardship - Next Steps, the FRC considers the case for narrative reporting standards, improvements to the reporting of strategy, risk and going concern together with a widening of the role of the audit committee and other aspects of the audit market

The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) have launched a consultation seeking views on a simplified reporting regime for ‘micro-entities'.

It is proposed that a micro-entity is a company or unincorporated business that trades for profit and does not exceed two of the three following criteria:

Earlier this week  I corresponded with a veteran of the City (i.e. someone who has survived the downturn) who described himself and his colleagues as gladiators - entering battle every day, enduring existence in a high risk environment – and feeling more bloodied than pre-2008. 

The eagerly awaited discussion paper from the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC) on Integrated Reporting has now been published.  The discussion paper ‘Towards Integrated Reporting' presents the rationale for Integrated Reporting (IR), offering initial proposals for the development of an International Integrated Reporting Framework and outlining the next steps towards its creation and adoption.

‘Risk management and performance management need to work in synch’ is a statement with which very few would disagree, especially in the wake of recent corporate collapses. It is apparent that a number of organisations took disproportionate risk without considering reasonable, long-term performance expectations. But less clear is how this statement can be made to work in practice.

When Nick Leeson, the Singapore based trader who brought down Barings Bank in 1995, realised the losses he was hiding were hours away from being discovered, he left a simple note on his desk.  And fled.  "I'm sorry" read the note and in a radio show last week, the Reunion, the BBC brought together Nick with his ex-boss for the first time when he apologised face to face.  In the show a former colleague, decribed Nick as "struck by a mixture of greed and fear for a number of yea

Dr Bakar, renowned Shari’ah scholar and President / CEO of Amanie Advisors and Consultancy, discusses the introduction of the new suite of Islamic finance qualifications from CIMA during a visit to their launch event at UCSI University, Malaysia, in June 2011.

Water is more essential to business than oil. Like most natural resources, it is running dangerously low. As reduced access to water threatens successful business models, pioneering companies are taking action. In this new context, management accountants have the skills needed to help organisations create sustainable business models.

Efficiencies, risk management, analytics and forecasting are vital as companies review their environmental impact, and the business ramifications of diminishing resources.

I am about to submit my CIMA practical experience record after completing 3 years in finance roles. I'm delighted to be in this position, as soon I will have the full-member-status which seems so far away during the long, dark hours of revision.