Will you be able to evidence integrity in your exams?   Fact or Fiction is a new report compiling discussions from four markets in Europe, Asia and Africa outlining the skills needed to be a successful business partner.   As finance partners more frequently with different functional units it is important to re-affirm independence and objectivity. 

With P3 resit papers around the corner how comfortable are you with your ethical performance.  Are you going for gold or are you likely to be in the dark side of the grey zone, feeling shame alongside those from recent corporate scandals for not acting in the public interest.

There are lots of resources to help you do the right thing in your exams, and the right thing professionally.

The UK is the first country to make it compulsory for organisations to include emissions data for their entire organisation in their annual reports.

In the week we launched the CGMA ethics theme I attended a lecture at St Paul’s Cathedral  given by the eminent professor of government at Harvard University, Michael Sandel on the moral limits of the market.  The “congregation” was at full capacity at nearly 1800.

Follow the trials and tribulations of Tony Scales and his team at Miralux in this new weekly e-drama. Bookmark this blog and catch up with episodes every two weeks.

In this episode, James Turner’s projects come in on budget and win environmental prizes. Surely that should keep the low-carbon campaigners smiling? However, it doesn’t help when James’ opponent happens to be his own sustainability manager, Tallulah. And he’s never sure whose side Cameron, the CFO is on either…

Follow the trials and tribulations of Tony Scales and his team at Miralux in this new weekly e-drama. Bookmark this blog and catch up with episodes each Monday.

Does Tony Scales, the new CEO of the Miralux Corporation, believe his own rhetoric s about ethics, the environment and the company’s hard line against corruption and fraud? Is he sincere or just the master of corporate rhetoric?

My previous blog on the future of UK GAAP dealt with the overall framework and which entities might be affected by the ASB's latest proposals; this time I would like to highlight the accounting changes that current users of UK GAAP might experience if the new proposals are ratified.

Over the past few months the UK's Accounting Standards Board has been busy finalising a significant revision to its previously published plans for the future of financial reporting.  The result, published at the end of January, is contained within three new Financial Reporting Exposure Drafts (FREDs).  FRED 46 specifies which entities the new rules would apply to, FRED 47 introduces a reduced disclosure framework for certain entities and FRED 48 contains the proposed new guidance.

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.