Glaxo to Face Suit over AIDS Drugs

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest non-government provider of health care services for US patients with HIV/AIDS, is expected to file suit against the US arm of GlaxoSmithKline alleging that several patents for its AIDS drugs are invalid, and that it has abused a monopoly in pricing those drugs. The lawsuit, expected to be filed in the US District Court for the Central Division of California, Western Division, alleges that Glaxo's prices for AIDS drugs such as Ziagen, Epivir, AZT and Retrovir "exorbitantly exceed its costs of licensing, manufacturing and distributing," and so "present a formidable obstacle for proper treatment of the AIDS epidemic in the [United States]," according to a draft copy of the lawsuit.

"We believe we have valid patents for our products," said a Glaxo spokesperson. Glaxo and other makers of AIDS drugs have cut prices by 90 percent or more to many poor nations. Now, AIDS activists are aggressively pursuing similar price cuts for the US market. Glaxo is one of the biggest manufacturers of AIDS medicines. Last year the British company said sales of its AIDS drugs rose 14 percent to $1.76 billion. Activists targeted Glaxo especially because the prices of some of its AIDS drugs in developing countries are twice the prices charged by rivals such as Merck and Bristol Myers-Squibb. Glaxo has said it makes no profit on those sales and that its prices reflect the cost of manufacturing.

AHF, which operates AIDS clinics and pharmacies that provide drugs to patients in the United States, Uganda and South Africa, said that it would seek triple damages of $66 million from Glaxo, based on AHF's drug purchases from Glaxo totaling $22 million over about four years. The group said its recent negotiations to persuade Glaxo to lower its prices in the United States faltered. Glaxo also declined to fund a program to provide free AIDS drugs in Uganda, South Africa and elsewhere, said AHF.

AHF claims that AZT, Epivir and Ziagen were developed with significant amounts of US government funding and, under US law, should be sold at more reasonable rates. Glaxo "didn't discover these drugs, and they are charging too much money for them," said Michael Weinstein, founder and president of the foundation.

Allders hits Alexon for £3m

Clothing retailer Alexon has admitted that £3m will be knocked off its profits this year as a result of the collapse of Allders, the stores where it ran 118 concessions.

The admission came as the company announced disappointing results and said current trading had worsened.

Group sales in the past nine weeks have fallen 3pc, with sales at its high street stores down about 6pc. The group has been particularly hit by poor sales at its youth fashion chain Bay Trading.

The company refused to blame the weather. Robin Piggott, finance director, said: "We were trimming the value of our garments, making them cheaper and cheaper but less interesting."

John Osborn, chief executive, said: "I've stood up Japanese-style and apologised for the sales fall but I'm not going to be slitting my wrists."

Analysts expressed surprise at the size of the hit from Allders. John Stevenson at Shore Capital said: "Alexon has over 1,000 concessions, with only 118 of those at Allders.''

Mr Piggot said the £3m related in part to making redundant 250 Alexon staff who worked at Allders. Group pre-tax profits fell 8pc to £26.9m on sales up 2pc to £424m. A final dividend of 5.67p will be paid on June 30.

AIG staff tried to destroy documents

New chief admits AIG staff tried to destroy documents By David Litterick in New York Published: 12:01AM BST 05 Apr 2005 The new chief executive of embattled insurer American International Group yesterday admitted that employees of the company had been found trying to destroy documents as he sought to allay concerns over the ever-expanding inquiries into the business. In a letter to shareholders, British-born Martin Sullivan said: "AIG recently became aware of efforts to remove documents and information from its Bermuda building without permission. AIG immediately brought these incidents to the attention of the relevant authorities. One individual in Bermuda was terminated for failure to co-operate with AIG's review and several other employees have resigned." Related Articles Civilian police employee shot during 'gun awareness' training Sir David Walker to shake up bank boards MPs' expenses: Sir Alan Haselhurst in angry exchanges with fees office Exporters given help to increase trade in Budget 2009 Sunsail abandons Turkey over visa rowHe said the company was working with regulators in New York, Bermuda and Ireland to ensure documents that could shed light on the company's transactions are secure. Regulators have been particularly interested in some of the deals AIG did with off-shore companies. Irish regulators confirmed yesterday that they had been looking into deals involving AIG and Cologne Re, a division of Berkshire Hathaway's General Re that has an office in Dublin. Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority chief Liam O'Reilly said he was "actively engaged" with Cologne Re and was working to ensure all "necessary corrective actions are taken". Mr Sullivan wrote: "We are working round the clock to complete our internal review as quickly and thoroughly as possible. AIG will continue to co-operate fully with all relevant authorities in their investigations. He added it was "unfortunate that current circumstances have obscured the reality that AIG's unique global franchise is sound, our financial position is solid and cash flow remains strong." The shares have fallen nearly 30pc since regulators issued subpoenas in February. News that some at AIG in Bermuda had been attempting to remove documents a week ago is thought to have infuriated New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer, whose investigation into the entire insurance industry sparked the current problems at AIG. It is understood that he had threatened to indict the whole company if action wasn't taken - a warning that led to the resignation of Maurice Greenberg as non-executive chairman. Meanwhile, Starr International, a private company that controls about 12pc of AIG's shares, has ousted a number of AIG executives, including Mr Sullivan and AIG chief operating officer Donald Kanak.

MG Rover For £10 in May 2000

BMW dashed hopes that MG Rover would get additional funding yesterday, claiming its troubled former British subsidiary would get nothing more than the £500m loan agreed when the Phoenix Consortium bought Rover for £10 in May.

Werner Samann, a BMW board director and former head of Rover, speaking at the Birmingham International Motor Show, said: "The balance sheet will not change dramatically from the £740m of transfer assets agreed on May 9.

"All the risks are with the new owners. Some circumstances may have changed - the 'rip-off Britain' campaign and the fuel crisis. But this is the risk of the entrepreneur. That's the responsibility of the new owner."

The two companies are due to agree on "completion accounts" (Rover's final balance sheet) by the end of the year. MG Rover's new chairman, John Towers, is understood to have been pressing the German company for more cash on the back of falling car prices, plummeting sales and the weakening euro.

The "rip-off Britain" campaign has hit the value of the 50,000 Rover cars the Phoenix Consortium inherited from BMW. These stocks were valued at £740m in May. Since then, Rover has cut its new car prices twice and seen its sales drop by as much as 44pc in a single month. At the same time,the euro has plunged to new depths versus the pound, further hurting MG Rover's business.

A spokesman for BMW later said that if Mr Towers contested the completion accounts, BMW and MG Rover could end up in court. The two companies would first attempt to reach agreement via an independent arbitration process. However, if this fails they would go to court to settle the final accounts.

MG Rover said: "The terms of the Rover BMW deal are confidential but Rover is not expecting any more money than that provided for in the May agreement."

Since the sale of Rover and Land Rover, Professor Samann has been responsible for disentangling the two businesses from BMW. He said MG Rover's recent claim in a regional newspaper report that it would buy BMW's British power train operation, which makes engines and gearboxes for Land Rover and Rover, was "wishful thinking".

He said: "There are several international companies which are interested in the power train business. MG Rover is one of those businesses." Land Rover's new owner, Ford, is understood to be keen not to see the power train operation pass into MG Rover's hands.

The comments by BMW come at a difficult time for MG Rover. Two of the company's non-executive directors, David Bowes and Terry Whitmore, announced earlier this week they would form their own car venture, separate from the Rover project, suggesting dissatisfaction with Rover.

MG Rover said yesterday the venture between Mr Bowes, who heads the sports car maker Lola, and Mr Whitmore, of Mayflower Vehicle Systems, was not a "rival venture" to MG Rover but just "an extension of their existing businesses".

Since selling Rover and Land Rover, BMW's British operation has been reduced to the Mini and two new factories, an engine plant in Hamshall, which begins production at the end of next year, and the new Rolls-Royce factory near Chichester, which will open in 2003.

Courtesy By Telegraphe

ACCA to launch ICFE Qualification

ACCA to launch International Certificate in Financial English (ICFE) Qualification

ACCA Pakistan is launching International Certificate in Financial English (ICFE) Qualification in Pakistan this week (20 – 27 July 2009). During the week, ACCA will undertake a series of activities including presentations to well-known organisations in the IT, telecom, banking and FMGG sector and educational institutions.
Other activities include radio show, free pre-testing for ICFE exams and seminars at ICFE tuition providers including School of Business Studies, College of Accounting & Management Sciences, Centre for Financial Training & Research and Berlitz in Karachi.  These institutions are offering ICFE tuitions and test preparatory classes for students and professionals.
The ICFE Qualification is jointly developed by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and University of Cambridge ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) Examinations. It comprehensively develops ability across the four skill areas of reading, writing, listening and speaking. ICFE is particularly relevant for finance and accountancy professionals needing to perfect their financial English skills or for finance and accountancy students preparing for professional exams or individuals required to present and interpret financial information. ICFE exams will be conducted by British Council Pakistan.
We take pride in sharing with you that Cambridge ESOL examinations are recognised by over 50 well reputed organizations in UK including Pricewaterhouse Cooper, World Bank, KPMG and Procter & Gamble. In Pakistan, ICFE has been endorsed by ICI Pakistan, PTCL, Packages Ltd and Khushhali Bank.
Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCA Pakistan says: "Being the international language of finance and accountancy, it is vital for professionals to have first-rate financial English language skills and the ability to communicate confidently with colleagues from the international business community".

Courtesy of ACCA Pakistan

Soaring Executive Pay Attacked by Shareholder Activists

Peter Rose, a Seattle-based corporate chief executive offficer, took home $4.7 million last year. He thinks that’s quite enough. “There's only so much crap you can buy,” he told his hometown newspaper. His colleagues in corporate America seem not to agree. Last year, the CEOs of the 500 biggest U.S. companies averaged $15.2 million in total annual compensation, according to Forbes business magazine’s annual executive pay survey. The top eight CEOs on the Forbes list each pocketed over $100 million.  Larry Ellison, CEO of business software giant Oracle, was not in the top eight. But as the 11th richest man in the world, who ended last year worth more than $16 billion, he is not doing badly. University of Chicago economist Austan Goolsbee points out that a CEO like Ellison literally cannot spend enough on personal consumption to stop his fortune from growing. Goolsbee calculates that Ellison would have to spend over “$183,000 an hour on things that can’t be resold, like parties or meals, just to avoid increasing his wealth.” Stunning numbers like these have moved executive pay onto America’s political radar screen. In a “state of the economy” address earlier this year, even President George W. Bush took note. “America’s corporate boardrooms must step up to their responsibilities,” the President proclaimed to a business audience. “You need to pay attention to the executive compensation packages that you approve.” At corporate annual shareholder meetings held across the U.S., activist individual and institutional investors have tried to encourage the process. They introduced resolutions designed to curb executive pay excess and, at one annual meeting after another, directly challenged presiding CEOs.  In May, at the annual meeting of the Denver-based telecom Qwest, high school teacher Linda Baggus — annual salary: $55,000 — wanted to know how CEO Dick Notebaert could justify his annual earnings, estimated at $33 million by one Midwest daily newspaper. “How is the service that you render so much more valuable than the service I render?” she asked. Notebaert gave the standard corporate defense for American CEO pay levels. Life at the Top: Consuming Interest How do CEOs spend their paychecks? In a way, just like everyone else, except more so. Quite a bit more so. Take housing, the largest single expenditure households make. Dwight Schar, the CEO of construction industry giant NVR, shelled out $70 million three years ago for his new home in Florida's Palm Beach. His beachfront manse features 18 bathrooms, a movie theater, and a walk-in humidor for cigars. The most expensive private home sold in the United States last year went to Richard Kurtz, the CEO of Advanced Photonix, a telecom supplier, for $58 million. Last year Rich Zannino, CEO of publisher Dow Jones, spent $173,441 getting to work. Dow Jones reimbursed him, on top of his $4 million-plus salary. That didn’t please the war correspondents on the Wall Street Journal, a Dow Jones property. In a protest letter they said their CEO “gets far more just to sit in the back of a limo on his way to work than we get to go into combat.” CEOs, naturally, also need bling. A recent study by Prince & Associates says banking industry executives who took home over $5 million in bonuses last year spent 16 percent of their good fortune on $31,000 Patek Philippe watches and other fine baubles. One Wall Street bling shop sits conveniently near financial powerhouse Goldman Sachs, whose CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, last year took home $53.4 million. The shop stocks $700 cigar lighters and a $320 cigar clipper. His pay, he explained, depends on his “performance” and reflects the realities of a “very competitive market” for executive talent. His defense carried the day. Four shareholder resolutions designed to clamp down on CEO pay excess failed to win majorities at the Qwest meeting. In early June, activists figured they would do better at the annual meeting of Yahoo, the global Internet giant headquartered in California’s Silicon Valley. The situation appeared to offer reformers all they needed: a CEO at the top of the pay charts; lackluster corporate performance; many angry shareholders. In 2006, Yahoo shares had sunk 35 percent, or about $20 billion, in value. Top talent, according to press reports, was jumping ship. A leaked internal Yahoo memo -- known in tech sector circles as the “Peanut Butter Manifesto” – said that, like peanut butter on toast, Yahoo management was spreading the company dangerously thin. Thinner, certainly, than the bulging wallet of CEO Terry Semel. Last year Semel pocketed $71.7 million, over twice the take-home of any other chief executive in Silicon Valley. Since 2001, the year he left Hollywood to take Yahoo’s top slot, Semel has cashed out an additional $450 million in personal stock option profits. By early June, three major shareholder advisory companies – which advise large investors how to vote at corporate annual meetings – had had enough. They urged a “no” vote on the re-election of three Yahoo board members who had served on the company’s executive pay committee. One of the three companies, Proxy Governance Inc., noted that Semel’s compensation was running 926 percent “above the median paid to CEOs at peer companies.” Semel walked into Yahoo’s June 12 annual meeting prepared to counterattack. “Yahoo has staked out a strong competitive position and we are better positioned than we have ever been before,” he pronounced. Activist shareholders disagreed. “I am surprised you did not apologize to Yahoo shareholders for the last three years of performance,” said one, Florida money manager Eric Jackson. There were no apologies. Instead, Semel and his management team prevailed in every executive pay-related vote they faced. Only a third of the Yahoo shareholder vote opposed the re-election of the targeted board members. Performance: Games Executives Play CEOs who “perform” deserve their rewards, corporate boards in the United States like to point out when asked to justify current levels of executive pay. But almost all the measurements — or “metrics” — used to determine who’s performing well can be adjusted to create phantom successes. What sort of games do savvy executives play? Here’s some samples. Stock Buybacks IBM and many other major companies use “earnings per share” to measure performance — and pay. The quickest way to hike earnings per share: a company merely “buys back” shares of the company’s own stock on the open stock market. With fewer company shares outstanding in the marketplace, a company’s “earnings per share” can jump, even if overall company earnings stay flat. IBM's corporate board authorized $15 billion in new buyback spending this spring. That's “two and a half times what IBM spends annually on research and development,” the Associated Press reported. Channel Stuffing Some companies rate performance by sales totals. Executives who need to hit a particular sales target by the end of a fiscal quarter can inflate sales by giving retailers incentives to buy more than they are likely to sell. The retailers later return the unsold products — after the executive has personally profited from the inflated sales. Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb inflated earnings for nearly three years by getting wholesalers to keep placing big orders. This "channel stuffing" kept sales booming and the company's share price rising. CEO Charles Heimbold parlayed this inflated share price into a stock sale that fetched him $23.6 million. Option Expensing Many companies measure performance by profit margin, a company’s earnings after deduction of expenses and taxes. Companies routinely push up this profit margin, a U.S. Senate hearing revealed in June, by manipulating executive pay to lower corporate tax bills. Under current U.S. law, corporations that award executives stock options can deduct from their taxes far more money than the options cost them. In 2004, says Senator Carl Levin from Michigan, top U.S. companies used this maneuver to save as much as $15 billion in taxes. Since 1993, Occidental Petroleum has claimed $353 million in tax deductions for stock options that went to the company’s CEO. The total that would have been deducted if reforms sought by Levin had been law: $29 million. A resolution seeking to tie Yahoo executive pay to a more competitive performance standard lost by the same two-to-one margin. A crushing setback for shareholder activism? Not exactly. The week after the annual meeting, the Yahoo corporate board announced Semel’s resignation. Had shareholder activists triumphed over executive pay excess? Well, Semel may be out, but CEO pay remains on the rise. If Yahoo’s next CEO takes home the same half-billion over six years as Semel, will Americans concerned about executive pay have reason to cheer? Margaret Covert doesn’t think so. Covert coordinates shareholder activism for NorthStar Asset Management, a Boston-based wealth management company. “It comes down to having a company share its bounty with all its workers,” she told CorpWatch. “All workers have contributed to company success. They should all share in the rewards, not just the top tier.” NorthStar asked shareholders of ExxonMobil, the world’s most profitable corporation, to call on the company to prepare a study that compares the “total compensation package of our CEO and our company’s lowest paid U.S. workers in September 1995 and September 2005. “As shareholders,” the proposed NorthStar resolution read, “we are concerned that the over-compensation of top executives has a negative effect on employee morale and customer trust.” NorthStar president Julie Goodridge carried the resolution to the May 30 ExxonMobil annual meeting at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, reminding the thousand or so shareholders present that CEO Rex Tillerson took home just over $22 million in 2006. “Our resolution asks shareholders to join us in questioning why it takes our lowest-paid employees a full year to earn what Mr. Tillerson earns for an hour on the job,” Goodridge said, “… because we believe it is fiscally irresponsible for a company to put so much of its resources into a single individual. “High company profits do not justify outrageous CEO compensation.” No shareholders spoke in favor of Goodridge’s resolution. She claims ExxonMobil officials structured the annual meeting so that they could not do so. “At ExxonMobil’s meeting last year, people could get up and make statements on behalf of resolutions they supported,” she explains. “The mikes were set up in the audience, and you could just line up at a mike and have your say.” This year, she says, Exxon allowed only the sponsors of a resolution to make a statement: “It felt like a much more hostile meeting than last year.” The NorthStar resolution gained just under 12 percent of the shareholder vote.  A resolution in a similar vein also made little headway at the annual meeting of retail giant Wal-Mart. The resolution asked why the company’s top five officers, who make up 0.000003 percent of the company’s workforce, were pulling in 18.2 percent of the total stock options Wal-Mart granted each year. “If options are a good incentive to get people to do a good job,” says Mike Lapham, director of Responsible Wealth, a national group that links affluent individuals from across the U.S. and which introduced the resolution, “why not use them for employees on the store floor, too, and help the women and people of color who work at Wal-Mart build their assets?” The environment at the annual meeting didn’t encourage serious debate on such a deep question. Lapham describes the meeting as more like a pep rally than a business gathering, with 15,000 of Wal-Mart’s most enthusiastic employees — “associates,” to use the official company term — packed into the University of Arkansas basketball arena for a four-hour entertainment extravaganza that featured the comedian Sinbad. “The shareholders resolutions come up when the employees take a bathroom break,” says Lapham. Top Wal-Mart officials never came forward to debate the Responsible Wealth resolution — or any of the other three resolutions that sought to challenge the company’s executive pay practices. They left their defense of pay arrangements to the explanations of corporate policy in the official annual meeting documents. “Our associates respect that Wal-Mart has a well-recognized culture of opportunity,” the documents stated. “They are proud that their CEO started as a manager in the trucking division and has stayed with the company for 28 years.” The Responsible Wealth resolution collected about the same support as the NorthStar initiative at ExxonMobil. However, executive pay resolutions at other corporate annual meetings in recent months have fared better. U.S. trade unions pushed particularly hard this spring for “say on pay” resolutions designed to give shareholders the right to take annual advisory votes on executive pay packages. This right is now enshrined in law in Australia, Sweden and the UK. In the Netherlands and Norway, shareholders have the right to take a binding executive pay vote. CEO Pay: Defense is the Best Form of Attack Corporate boards in the United States have evolved a consistent, all-purpose defense of the executive pay status quo. In an explanation that chimed with other statements throughout Corporate America, the executive compensation committee at Toll Brothers, Inc., a major residential construction company, said earlier this year that it had based executive pay “on the principles that compensation should reflect the financial performance of the company and the performance of the executive, and that long-term incentives should be a significant factor in the determination of executive officers’ compensation.” On top of that, the company “sets executive compensation at levels that are sufficiently competitive so that the company will attract, motivate, and retain the highest quality individuals to contribute to the company’s goals, objectives, and overall financial success.” How does that work in practice? Toll Brothers CEO Robert Toll earned $29.3 million in 2006. Was that a suitable reward for performance? The company's net income last year fell 15 percent.   Or was the $29.3 million intended as an incentive that would stimulate Toll to do better in the future? Toll owns nearly a fifth of the 5,500-employee company's outstanding shares of stock, so seems already to have enough incentive to want the company to do well. Or is $29.3 million the “sufficiently competitive” going rate for CEOs in homebuilding? It doesn’t seem so. Over the past three years, Robert Toll has taken home almost seven times more than his CEO counterparts in the homebuilding industry. Last year only a half-dozen advisory “say on pay” resolutions were tabled at annual meetings. This year, “say on pay” debates have erupted at nearly ten times that number of annual meetings, and most have attracted 40 percent or more of shareholder votes. Four even won majorities — at Blockbuster, Ingersoll-Rand, Motorola and Verizon. Shareholder activists hail the results as significant.  Until recently, explains veteran shareholder organizer Tim Smith, only church groups and labor and public employee pension funds seemed willing to challenge management on executive pay. That’s changed, says Smith, a senior vice president at Walden Investment Management and chair of the Social Investment Forum, the top U.S. trade association for social investors: “You don’t get 35 percent of a shareholder vote without some big institutional investors saying no.” Major institutional investors, such as the T. Rowe Price mutual fund family, are now eager to give shareholders “the tools they need to hold corporate boards of directors accountable,” adds Dan Pedrotty, director of the AFL-CIO’s office of investment, the coordinating center of American labor’s shareholder activism. “We’re becoming more of a critical mass,” agrees NorthStar Asset’s Julie Goodridge. “It’s one thing when an investor with a few thousand shares objects - quite another when an investor with millions of shares stands up.” In Plano, Texas, some of those investors stood up at the May 18 annual meeting of retail giant J. C. Penney, which last year handed $10.2 million in severance pay to an executive who had spent only six months in the job. Shareholders passed a resolution, sponsored by the Bricklayers Union, asking company management to secure shareholder approval in advance for any future severance package that exceeds an executive’s regular annual salary and bonus by 2.99 times or more. The J. C. Penney corporate board is not obliged to implement the resolution, because shareholder resolutions at U.S. annual meetings typically function only as recommendations. Reformers acknowledge that corporate boards already ignore public frustration over rising executive paychecks. “We’re disappointed to see packages continuing to spiral upward,” Service Employees Union corporate activist Tracey Rembert told CorpWatch. “The lump sum numbers now public under the new SEC disclosure rules have been shocking.” Last summer the SEC (the federal Securities and Exchange Commission) promulgated regulations requiring publicly traded companies in the U.S. to reveal previously largely hidden categories of executive compensation. Among the surprises the new SEC regulations have helped bring to light: the $415.5 million in 2006 take-home for Occidental Petroleum CEO Ray Irani. He pocketed $52.1 million in salary, bonus, perks and stock awards and cleared another $270.1 million cashing out stock options awarded in previous years. And he withdrew another $93.3 million from his Occidental “deferred pay” account. Some observers had predicted that the SEC regulations would help curb executive compensation increases. Certainly, shareholders have more information than ever before. Nevertheless, executives and corporate boards still enjoy a huge advantage in the ongoing debate because both they and the critics share an assumption that executives who perform well deserve to be rewarded.   “Pay should be linked to performance, that’s the common denominator,” says Walden Investment Management’s Tim Smith. “Nothing will raise investor ire more than if pay does not seem to be linked to performance.” Executives have learned how to spin performance statistics to deflect attacks. Angelo Mozilo, for instance, has collected over $285 million in the last 11 years as CEO of Countrywide Financial, the largest U.S. home mortgage lender. At Countrywide’s annual meeting in May, Mozilo presented a list showing that Countrywide was 12th in a list of U.S. companies that had generated the greatest returns for shareholders. That placed it ahead of corporate giants Dell and Berkshire Hathaway whose top guns, Michael Dell and Warren Buffett, he noted, had both become  “multibillionaires.” Mozilo’s not-so-subtle message to shareholders: At $285 million, I’m a bargain. Executives usually have little difficulty finding some “metric” that proves they have performed well and richly deserve generous rewards. Corporate board executive compensation committees make metric cherry-picking easy. They will often cite, Tim Smith notes, a long list of metrics that guide their determination of performance, but leave unclear which performance measurements matter most.  In this spring’s round of corporate annual meetings, the Carpenters Union led an effort to clamp down on performance metric gamesmanship. The Carpenters and allied groups pushed a resolution asking corporate boards to benchmark their performance standards against competing firms. The goal: no windfalls for executives whose companies fail to beat their competitors. The approach proved a hard sell. The failure of every “pay for superior performance” resolution to gain a majority in shareholder voting has become a basic fact of life for corporate activists. So what keeps these activists coming back to shareholder meetings, year after year, when they usually have so little to show for their efforts? Scott Klinger, research director of Corporate Accountability International and a veteran of the annual meeting scene since the mid-1980s, emphasizes that annual shareholder meetings play a unique role. Every other day of the year, Klinger says, CEOs live in their own separate universe. “Corporations now require their top executives to fly on corporate aircraft for security reasons,” he explains. “They never even get to meet first-class passengers. They come to believe they’re special. They never see real life.” Activists like Responsible Wealth’s Mike Lapham are working to bring that real life into annual meetings. Earlier this year, deep-pocketed members of Responsible Wealth joined TIGRA (the Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action) in a campaign to press Western Union to lower the fees the company charges immigrants to send remittances home. Activists at the Western Union annual meeting accompanied immigrants with troubling stories to tell about how remittance fees were squeezing their families. Lapham says Western Union executives came face-to-face with people they would never otherwise encounter. “Moments like that,” he observes, “are one of the rare times executives ever get to hear the downside of how they’re making their money.” Activists at this spring’s corporate annual meetings weren’t able to accomplish anything that will immediately staunch the flow of money into executive pockets. But they will return next year. The tide, most seem convinced, may be turning — and now’s no time to turn back. Courtesy By Sam Pizzigati

How Technology Has Changed Accounting

The history of accounting is as aged as civilization and this history also is powerful base to develop the accounting of the next generation.

One of the most fundamental concepts in accounting is double-entry bookkeeping, developed in medieval times and first documented by Luca Pacioli, an Italian friar, in 1494. During the time, the bookkeeping methods are involved in making business financial transactions records and preparation of statements concerning the assets, liabilities, and operating results of a business.

Accounting records were often the only reliable records of such historical transactions. Imagine all the records are done by manual papers, thus this is not easy to translate all data into readable report.

How Technology Has Changed Accounting today?

The more recent history of accounting reached a milestone in the 1980s when new technology improved the speed and ease of transmitting information among different computers and systems.

The introduction of computer technology into accounting systems changed the way data was stored, retrieved and controlled. Today, a global real-time integrated information system is a near reality, suggesting new accounting paradigms. Most large sized companies have invested dozens to hundreds of ancillary systems that feed into their general ledger and consolidation systems.

On the other hand, accounting has been a leader of the Information Revolution. In fact, much like language, many countries have different and unique accounting, banking, and financial systems

ACCA welcomes new IFRS for SMEs

Many companies to benefit from completion of IASB's 'most important project'

ACCA has welcomed the IASB's new standard for small and medium-sized enterprises, saying that it will have a significant impact on millions of companies around the world.
Despite concerns by many that the new simplified standard, which still runs to more than 200 pages, would be too complex for small businesses to use, ACCA's own research shows little concern in this area.
'We are delighted that the IASB has completed its most important project after five years' work,' said Richard Martin, ACCA head of financial reporting. 'It comes at a critical time because it will mean that countries will be able to apply IFRS to companies of all sizes and not need to operate two systems of financial reporting, with one for large listed companies and another for smaller or unlisted privately owned companies. ACCA has always supported IFRS as a global accounting language for listed companies - now this has been opened up for smaller businesses too.
'The use of international standards across the board should add credibility to the financial statements of unlisted companies, at a time when potential users of accounts want to be able to rely on the figures they see.
'There has been concern from some quarters that despite attempting to simplify standards for SMEs the IASB had produced something which was still far too complex. However, when we field-tested the exposure draft in the UK, we found that small companies and their accountants were able to apply this without significant difficulty.
'We look forward to a widespread take up over the next few years as countries assess its usefulness in their context. ACCA is pleased that IASB as a global standard setter has recognised its obligation to make available the standard and related educational material to download for free to users.'
ACCA president Brendan Murtagh, who is a partner in an accounting practice, said: 'In my firm, we imagine this will be warmly accepted as best practice by our clients very quickly. A set of standards which is more easily understood by smaller businesses, their potential investors, customers and suppliers can only help organisations to survive in these tough trading conditions and to potentially thrive when the current situation eases.

Courtesy by ACCA

Pakistan’s economic recovery

Donors’ US$20 billion support will speed up Pakistan’s economic recovery

KARACHI — After the approval of more than US$20 million in credit and grants by donors, the economy of Pakistan is showing strong signs of recovery, economists said on July 9.

“Foreign exchange reserves, the balance of payment position, inflation and mark-up rates have shown a significant improvement in last few months, and that will help to pull the economy of Pakistan out of recession and put it on the path towards growth,” economist A.B. Shahid said. Reserves have improved to $12 billion this month from $7 billion in January. The current account deficit shrunk to $340 million in the last quarter, down from $3.5 billion in preceding quarter.

Inflation in July declined to an annual rate of 10 percent, down from 21 percent in January, and the Karachi Inter-Bank Operations Rate fell to 12.5 percent from a high of 16 percent over the first half of this year, Shahid added.

“The International Monetary Fund [IMF], World Bank [WB], Asian Development Bank [ADB] and major donor countries such as the U.S., the UK, Japan, China, Germany and France have approved more than $20 billion in economic assistance for Pakistan over the next five years. That has revived the business confidence and averted the threat of default,” economist Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan said.

Last November, Pakistan faced the threat of default when State Bank of Pakistan foreign exchange reserves fell to $3.2 billion, barely enough to pay for one month of imports, Khan said. The IMF approved a $7.6 billion bailout package that month, and also disbursed another $3.1 billion on an emergency basis, which eliminated the immediate danger of default and revived the confidence of the investors and the businessmen, he added.

Khan said that despite the global and domestic economic crisis, Pakistan's economy grew 2.0 percent in FY 2008-09. During FY 2009-10 the country is expected to achieve growth of 3.5 percent.

“FY 2009-10 could be a year of fast economic recovery, as some key economic indicators reflect encouraging improvements over FY 2008-09,” economist Dr Shahid Siddiqui said. To ensure that is the case, the government should further trim inflation, mark-up rates, overcome the energy crisis and enhance exports and the tax-to-GDP ratio to stimulate recovery and growth even further, he asserted.

Courtesy Central Asia Online

Pakistan Real GDP growth @ 8%

Real GDP growth should be sustained at eight percent per year: ADB advises Pakistan

Asian Development Bank advised the Pakistan government that Real GDP growth, remained sustained at 8% per year, over 2010-2020, while credit to the private sector, from the banking sector, expanded to 42% of GDP by 2018. The manufacturing sector's share of the GDP increased by 30%, by 2020. High value-added output share of exports increased to 40% of GDP by 2020.
An update review of the Asian Development Bank on "Macroeconomic Developments and Prospects" revealed that the crisis had a major impact on financial markets, with the Karachi stock index plunging by 57% in 2008. To halt the steep decline, the Karachi Stock Exchange Board imposed a floor on stock prices in August 2008. This was eliminated in December.
To revive the market after the floor was lifted, the National Investment Trust (the government-owned and largest money manager in Pakistan) invested about Rs 7 billion in the Rs 20 billion State Enterprise Fund, which is investing in the stock market. The market subsequently rallied and bounced back to pre-crisis levels. Increased confidence and improved terms of trade helped stabilise the rupee at around Rs 80, to the dollar, since October 2008 and enabled the SBP to rebuild its gross international reserves.
According to the ADB report, the banking system remains relatively well capitalised, but gross nonperforming loans have increased from 7% in 2007 to about 9.1% of all loans and banks' profitability has declined by about 24%, from the previous year, (reflecting, in part, the mounting provisioning requirements in response to the rise in nonperforming loans).
Domestic pressures and the global financial crisis have led to greater dollarisation and a continued outflow from the system, which contributes to deteriorating liquidity conditions. In response to liquidity pressures, in October 2008, the SBP reduced the reserve requirement by 4 percentage points and eased liquidity requirements.
To ease the strains on banks and other deposit institutions, the SBP slowed a mandated rise in paid-in capital, for 2013, from a planned Rs 23 billion to Rs 10 billion (with an annual increase of Rs 1 billion per year from 2009 through 2013). The capital adequacy requirement of 10% has not been affected. According to an ADB report, Real GDP growth dropped to 4.1% in FY2008, after 5 years of averaging near 7%.
Significant factors constraining growth have been a sharp decline in the growth of private investment, due to political uncertainty, a worsening security situation, and the impact of high international oil prices and frequent power shortages. The contribution of investment to growth fell to just 0.7 percentage points in FY2008, compared to 2.7 percentage points in the preceding fiscal year.
The contribution of net exports to growth turned negative, especially due to the oil price hike and the continued slowdown in textile exports, and the manufacturing sector's contribution was expected to turn negative for the current fiscal year. When combined with the failure to align domestic prices with international prices, the oil price shock and high wheat import price led to a massive build up of unbudgeted and untargeted subsidies and resulted in a fiscal deficit for FY2008 of 7.6% of GDP-the highest in 9 years.
Also, interest payments on Defence Savings Certificates, which were issued in the 1990s with high interest rates, steeply increased interest costs and contributed to the larger deficit. In the absence of additional foreign inflows (eg, investments and remittances), the deficit had to be financed, mainly through domestic borrowing from the SBP.
Development spending was compressed, relative to that planned in the budget, to offset some of the impact from the untargeted subsidies. The tax-to-GDP ratio came in at 10.6%, more than half a percentage point lower than projected in the budget.
Subsidies on oil, food, fertiliser, and power contributed to the budget deficit, but failed to contain inflation, as food prices soared and the price of fuel was adjusted upward in the last 4 months of FY2008. Steep rupee depreciation stoked inflationary pressures, as did financing of the expanding deficit through borrowing from the SBP.
The consumer price index, on a year-on year basis, climbed to 21.5% in June 2008 and to 25.3% in August, which was the highest in 30 years. Core inflation also increased. As food prices rose sharply (by 32% in June 2008 year-on year), the poorest groups in society were hardest hit. With declining international commodity prices and a slowing domestic economy, the year-on-year consumer price index fell to 20.5% and food inflation to 21.6% in January 2009.
Domestic inflation would have fallen by more had the rupee not depreciated by 15.9% against the dollar in the first 7 months of FY2009, the ADB report added. Reacting to the rising inflation and the sharp increase in imports, the ADB review pointed out, that the SBP tightened monetary policy three times in FY2008 for a cumulative rise in its discount rate of 250 basis points.
That rate climbed by another 300 basis points to 15% (the highest in South Asia) by November 2008, under the IMF program as inflation persisted, the drain on reserves continued, and the Government sought to reduce its SBP borrowings by making treasury bills more attractive to commercial banks. By April 2009, inflation had slowed to less than 17.2%, compared with the record 25% level in the last quarter of 2008. This enabled the SBP to reduce the discount rate by 100 basis points.
The fiscal deficit is expected to decline to 4.3% of GDP in FY2009, as the Government has removed or reduced subsidies and rationalised development expenditure. It already has fully eliminated the subsidy on petroleum products and is undertaking a phased reduction in the electricity subsidy, with the target to terminate this subsidy by the end of FY2009.
A reprioritisation of projects is expected to lead to a slashing of the development budget by over Rs 100 billion for FY2009. The Government has also frozen supplementary grants to various departments to infuse greater fiscal discipline. Fiscal performance for June 2008-March 2009 suggests that the annual target is achievable.
While the slowdown in economic activity, in response to the global financial crisis, has reduced revenue growth below earlier projections, reflecting in part lower sales tax revenues with the decline in imports, revenue from the petroleum development levy and compressed expenditures will hold the deficit to the targeted 4.3% for FY2009.
Growth is expected to slow to 2.0% in FY2009 due to the global slowdown, the Government's tight demand management policies, and infrastructure deficits. GDP growth could rise to about 3.0% in FY2010. But there are considerable downside risks, including the worsening security situation, the ADB report mentioned.
Highlighting the "Prospects for FY2010", the ADB mentioned that the strains on the fiscal deficit for FY2009 have been reduced. The reduction in international commodity prices (especially for wheat and oil) will generate considerable fiscal space. Additional factors, important for the 2010 fiscal outlook, include:
(i) Measures will be introduced, for FY2010, to strengthen revenue collections, including improvements to both policies and administration.
(ii) The Government has undertaken a rationalisation and review of development spending.
(iii) The fiscal space generated by recent policy changes has to be viewed in the context of the substantially increased risk to Pakistan's economic performance appearing in the recent months. Social safety net requirements can be expected to expand considerably.
Not only has unemployment increased, but a substantial number of citizens have been displaced as a result of intensified internal conflict. Security and defence spending will necessarily rise. Real growth could be further reduced, particularly if intensified conflict substantially impacts on agricultural activity.
(iv) The donor meeting in April 2009 resulted in commitments for additional support to shore up development activity and to reflect the increase in social support that would be needed. The original deficit target for FY2010 of 3.4% has been loosened to accommodate up to 1.2% of GDP in additional donor support.

Courtesy: Business Recoder

Public Sector Development

Highlights of Pakistan Public Sector Development Programme 2009-10

ISLAMABAD, Jun 13 (APP): Following are the highlights of Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), 2009-10, released here on Saturday. Total amount of Rs.646 billion has been allocated in PSDP-2009-10 for various ongoing and new schemes. The PSDP allocations for the year 2009-10 are the highest-ever in the country’s history.

Out of total PSDP, the federal share is Rs.421 billion, provincial share Rs.200 billion where as Rs.25 billion would be spent for Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of Earthquake-hit areas.

Following are the main allocations:

Rs.47255.6 for Water and Power Division (Water Sector)

Rs.20335 for Water and Power Division (Power Sector).

Rs.19534 for Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.

Rs.4597.2 for the Communication Division (NHA).

Rs.12681.2 for the Railways Division.

Rs.35000 for special programmes.

Rs.45599.3 for Finance Division

Rs.17968.2 for Planning and Development Division.

Rs.5582 for Housing and Works Division.

Rs.1128.5 for Information Technology and Telecommunication Division.

Rs.3265.2 for Science and Technological Research Division.

Rs.7583.7 for Defence Division (Including SUPARCO).

Rs.8551.3 for Education Division.

Rs.22500 for Higher Education Commission.

Rs.23154.1 for Health Division.

Rs.5250.9 for Population Welfare Division.

Rs.25521.4 for KA and NA Division.

Rs.12865 for States and Frontier Regions Division.

Rs.1874.3 for Petroleum and Natural Resources Division.

Rs.2253.9 for Environment Division.

Rs.4918.9 for Cabinet Division.

Rs.1677 for Defence Production Division.

Rs.17962 for Food and Agriculture Division.

Rs.2586.4 for Livestock and Dairy Development Division.

Rs.7822.3 for Industries and Production Division.

Rs.2793.9 for Special Initiatives Division.

Rs.7031.1 for Interior Division.

Rs.839.2 for Commerce Division.

Rs.2051 for Law, Justice and Human Rights Division.

Rs.2448.3 for Revenue Division.

Rs.447.4 for Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority.

Rs.828.8 for Ports and Shipping Division.

Rs.444 for Local Government and Rural Development Division.

Rs.195.5 for Tourism Division.

Rs.250 for Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Rs.679.1 for Narcotics Control Division.

Rs.129.8 for Establishment Division.

Rs.343.7 for Women Development Division.

Rs.487.7 for Social Welfare and Special Education Division.

Rs. 135.4 for Labour and Manpower Division.

Rs.450 for Culture Division.

Rs.583.2 for Supports Division.

Rs.47.8 for Youth Affairs Division.

Rs.916.1 for Information and Broadcasting Division.

Rs.509.7 for Textile Industry Division.

Rs.180 for Statistics Division.

Rs.300 for Ministry of Postal Services.

Rs.50 for National Reconstruction Bureau.

Rs.15.8 for Economic Affairs Division.

Electronic based resources for ACCA students

Useful Online and Electronic based resources for ACCA students

Here are some of the useful online resources that we found over the internet that will surely be helpful for the students attempting ACCA computer based exam (CBE) this year.

These are actually BPP i-pass cds which offer great insight on how to attempt ACCA CBE test and how to prepare for the F1 F2 and F3 exams. As first 3 papers of ACCA’s fundamental papers are multiple choices based and is taken on the computer, this software based, which is actually BPP exam kit also offers advices on each question you attempt so that you can have clear concept about every topic you prepare.

Instructions on how to download bpp i-pass cds

· Download the file using the link given with each Paper/subjects name.

· Clicking the link above, you will be redirected to “rapidshare” download page. Hit Free User button. Wait for the timer.

· After the timer ran out, click the “Download Icon”

· Unzip the files using WinRar or WinZip software

· Run setup

· Run the software by double clicking the icon on the desktop.

· Leave a comment if you have any issues with installation or using the software

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants BPP i-pass Cds

>> ACCA PAPER F1 ACCOUNTANT IN BUSINESS (AB) Download BPP i-pass cd for ACCA F1

>> ACCA PAPER F2 MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING (MA) Download BPP i-pass cd for ACCA F2

>> ACCA PAPER F3 FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING (FA) Download BPP i-pass cd for ACCA F3

||DISCLAIMER: We by no mean selling these softwares or intend any monetary benefit in sharing these. These are just the links that we found on the internet and we are offering to the students for their convenience. We do respect Copyrights and discourage the piracy actions||

Paper F7 Financial Reporting [FR]

Useful Resources for ACCA paper F7 Financial Reporting [FR]

ACCA exam papers professional courses' paper F7 which is Financial Reporting [FR] has an extensive syllabus. To cover every aspect of the syllabus we can take help from technology.

Following are the links provided that we found over the internet (rapidshare), these are actually the audio lectures in respect of each topic to be covered under ACCA courses' F7 exam.

Click on the link provided to download the audio lectures.

>> BPP F7- Financial Reporting audio lectures CD <<

Lecture 1: THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Lecture 2: THE CONSTITUTION OF A GROUP AND THE CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

Lecture 3: FAIR VALUES AND THE CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT

Lecture 4: ACCOUNTING FOR ASSOCIATES

Lecture 5: CASH FLOW STATEMENTS

Lecture 6: TANGIBLE NON-CURRENT ASSETS

Lecture 7: INTANGIBLE NON-CURRENT ASSETS

Lecture 8: INVENTORIES AND CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS

Lecture 9: LEASES

Lecture 10: OFF BALANCE SHEET FINANCE AND REVENUE RECOGNITION

Lecture 11: DEFERRED TAX

Lecture 12: EVENTS AFTER THE BALANCE SHEET DATE AND PROVISION, CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND CONTINGENT ASSETS

Lecture 13: FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Lecture 14: IAS 33 EARNINGS PER SHARE

Lecture 15: ACCOUNTS PREPARATION QUESTIONS AND RELATED STANDARDS

Lecture 16: INTERPRETATION OF ACCOUNTS

Lecture 17: ALTERNATIVE MODELS AND PRACTICES AND NOT-FOR-PROFIT AND PUBLIC SECTOR

Instructions on how to download BPP Audio CD lectures for F7-Financial Reporting

• Click the links you want to download
• Clicking the link above, you will be redirected to "rapidshare" download page. Hit Free User button. Wait for the timer.
• After the timer ran out, click the "Download Icon"
• Open the files using any media player.
• Leave a comment if you have any issues regarding downloading and hearing the file

||DISCLAIMER: We by no mean selling these resources or intend any monetary benefit in sharing these. These are just the links that we found on the internet and we are offering to the students for their convenience. We do respect Copyrights and discourage the piracy actions||

Paper F8 Audit and Assurance [AA] (Int)

Useful Resources for ACCA course Paper F8 Audit and Assurance [AA] (Int)

Following are some useful links that we came across the web that we think will be of great help for students of ACCA preparing for their June 2009 exam attempt.

ACCA Paper F8 Audit and Assurance (International) Pass cards

Description: BPP pass cards are actually a text based learning medium. In this, chapters are covered in pictorial form and using the tables, graphs, and flow diagrams for easy understanding and memorizing. It’s great for revision of the whole course as you can just skim through the whole topic in first glance. It supplements the standard ACCA exam kits from BPP or Kaplan and can be used for quick guidance in ACCA exams preparation.

Have a look at the following screenshots to gain some idea about BPP pass cards

Screenshot 1: Code of Ethics presented in tabular form

(Screenshot of the CODE of ETHICS presented in tabular form for easy remebering)

Screenshot 2: All types of Risks defined in flow diagram

(All types of Risks defined and how they are associated with each other)

>>DOWNLOAD BPP PASS CARDS<<

Instructions on how to download BPP Pass Cards

· Click “Download BPP Pass Cards” link

· Clicking the link above, you will be redirected to “rapidshare” download page. Hit Free User button. Wait for the timer.

· After the timer ran out, click the “Download Icon”

· You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read the file

||DISCLAIMER: We by no mean selling these resources or intend any monetary benefit in sharing these. These are just the links that we found on the internet and we are offering to the students for their convenience. We do respect Copyrights and discourage the piracy actions||

Paper P2 Corporate Reporting [CR]

Here are some of the useful links that we found over the internet after hard searching. Hope they will benefit all the students of ACCA P2.

Download BPP audio lectures CD for ACCA professional level paper P2 Corporate Reporting. These lectures contain useful material regarding preparation and key areas needed to prepare ACCA paper P2 in good way. Download these audio lecture files directly from Rapidshare.

Lecture 1: THE FINANCIAL REPORTING FRAMEWORK

Lecture 2: THE PROFESSIONAL AND ETHICAL DUTY OF THE ACCOUNTANT

Lecture 3: NON-CURRENT ASSETS

Lecture 4: EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Lecture 5: INCOME TAXES

Lecture 6: FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Lecture 7: PROVISIONS, CONTINGENCIES AND EVENTS AFTER THE BALANCE SHEET DATE

Lecture 8: IAS 17: LEASES

Lecture 9: REVENUE RECOGNITION

Lecture 10: SHARE-BASED PAYMENT

Lecture 11: PERFORMANCE REPORTING

Lecture 12: CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS, BASIC GROUPS, ASSOCIATES AND JOINT VENTURES

Lecture 13: COMPLEX GROUPS

Lecture 14: CHANGES IN GROUP STRUCTURES

Lecture 15: CONTINUING AND DISCONTINUED INTERESTS

Lecture 16: FOREIGN SUBSIDIARIES

Lecture 17: CASH FLOW STATEMENTS

Lecture 18: REPORTING FOR SPECIALIZED ENTITIES

Lecture 19: INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

Lecture 20: CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS

Lecture 21: IMPLICATIONS OF CHANGES IN ACCOUNTING REGULATION ON FINANCIAL REPORTING

Lecture 22: PREPARATION OF REPORTS

Instructions on how to download BPP Audio CD lectures for P2-Corporate Reporting

· Click the links you want to download

· Clicking the link above, you will be redirected to “rapidshare” download page. Hit Free User button. Wait for the timer.

· After the timer ran out, click the “Download Icon”

· Open the files using any media player.

· Leave a comment if you have any issues regarding downloading and hearing the file

||DISCLAIMER: We by no mean selling these resources or intend any monetary benefit in sharing these. These are just the links that we found on the internet and we are offering to the students for their convenience. We do respect Copyrights and discourage the piracy actions||

Paper P3 Business Analysis [BA]

After a very daunting search we get a progress and found some of the useful links over the internet. Hope they will benefit all the students of ACCA P3.

Download BPP audio lectures CD for ACCA professional level paper P3 Business analysis. These lectures contain useful material regarding preparation and key areas needed to prepare ACCA paper P3 in a good way. Download these audio lecture files directly from Rapidshare.

To download Whole BPP ACCA P3 audio lectures CD CLICK HERE

To download selected tracks click the lecture name to download:

Lecture 1: WHAT IS STRATEGY?

Lecture 2: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Lecture 3: COMPETITORS AND CUSTOMERS

Lecture 4: STRATEGIC CAPABILITY

Lecture 5: STAKEHOLDERS, ETHICS AND CULTURE

Lecture 6: STRATEGIC OPTIONS FOR THE CORPORATE PARENT

Lecture 7: BUSINESS UNIT STRATEGIES

Lecture 8: IMPROVING BUSINESS PROCESSES

Lecture 9: E - BUSINESS

Lecture 10: QUALITY

Lecture 11: PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Lecture 12: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Lecture 13: STRATEGIC CHANGE

Instructions on how to download BPP Audio CD lectures for P3-Business Analysis

• Click the links you want to download
• Clicking the link above, you will be redirected to “rapidshare” download page. Hit Free User button. Wait for the timer.
• After the timer ran out, click the “Download Icon”
• Open the files using any media player.

Leave a comment if you have any issues regarding downloading and hearing the file

||DISCLAIMER: We by no mean selling these resources or intend any monetary benefit in sharing these. These are just the links that we found on the internet and we are offering to the students for their convenience. We do respect Copyrights and discourage the piracy actions||

Paper P1 – Professional Accountant

ACCA exam papers professional courses’ paper P1 which Professional Accountant (PA) has extensive syllabus. To cover every aspect of the syllabus we can take help from technology.

Following are the links

provided that we found over the internet (rapidshare), these are actually the audio lectures in respect of each topic to be covered under ACCA courses’ P1 exam.

Click on the link provided to download the audio lectures.

>> BPP P1- Professional Accountant audio lectures CD <<

Lecture 1: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AIMS AND PRINCIPLES

Lecture 2: SHAREHOLDERS AND STAKEHOLDERS

Lecture 3: GOVERNANCE CODES AND LEGISLATION

Lecture 4: CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Lecture 5: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE PRACTICE

Lecture 6: COMMUNICATON POLICIES

Lecture 7: INTERNAL CONTROL SYSTEMS

Lecture 8: INTERNAL AUDIT

Lecture 9: BUSINESS RISKS

Lecture 10: RISK ASSESSMENT

Lecture 11: RISK ATTITUDES AND CULTURE

Lecture 12: RISK MANAGEMENT

Lecture 13: RISK REPSONSES

Lecture 14: INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS AND REPORTING

Lecture 15: ETHICS AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST

Lecture 16: ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Lecture 17: SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Instructions on how to download BPP Audio CD lectures for P1-Professional Accountant

· Click the links you want to download

· Clicking the link above, you will be redirected to “rapidshare” download page. Hit Free User button. Wait for the timer.

· After the timer ran out, click the “Download Icon”

· Open the files using any media player.

· Leave a comment if you have any issues regarding downloading and hearing the file

>> BPP P1- Professional Accountant i-pass (i-assess) CD <<

Following are the links that we found over the internet regarding ACCA P1-Professional Accountant Course. As we know P1 paper is paper based and not CBE this software will help you identify key areas that need your attention more. This software is actually Computer Based Examination from BPP named as i-assess (i-pass) and covers the whole syllabus in a very good manner.

Download BPP P1 – Professional Accountant i-assess (i-pass) CD

Instructions on how to download BPP i-assess CD for P1-Professional Accountant

· Click the links “Download BPP P1 – Professional Accountant i-assess CD”

· Clicking the link above, you will be redirected to “Rapidshare” download page. Hit Free User button. Wait for the timer.

· After the timer ran out, click the “Download Icon”

· Mount the file using virtual drive manager e.g. “Power Iso”.

· Install the software and click on the link placed on the desktop.

Examiners Recommended Reading

Solomon, J (2006). Corporate Governance and Accountability Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.

Monks, A. G. and Minow, N Corporate Governance Third edition. Malden MA: Blackwell.

Crane, A. & Matten, D. (2003).Business Ethics Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Gray, R, Owen, D and Adams C (1996). Accounting and Accountability Prentice Hall, London

||DISCLAIMER: We by no mean selling these resources or intend any monetary benefit in sharing these. These are just the links that we found on the internet and we are offering to the students for their convenience. We do respect Copyrights and discourage the piracy actions||

Annual Risk Management Conference 2009

EMESAP International Management Announces Annual Risk Management Conference 2009. Register now with your nominations to attend the Conference as Limited seats are available.
Karachi, Pakistan, 7th 8th August 2009 As the economic downturn has driven up collective needs to make Risk Management a critical task for banks and other financial institutions, it spurs an intellectual gathering which will be a watershed event in the growing movement to use Risk Management strategies as an answer to banking challenges. The premier Conference will bring together leaders in the field of Risk Management for a comprehensive overview of this rapidly expanding area of banking and finance.
In uncertain times like these, staying abreast of changes is essential. And participating in a forum like EMESAPs Annual Risk Management Conference, gives the unique opportunity to connect and collaborate with the peers and industry experts. The mastermind convention is a chance to share your thoughts and concerns about your workflow practice
The two days Conference is creatively harmonized with the presentations and discussions of the intellectual minds and the industry leaders and is supported by the leading business television channel in Pakistan and other media partners across the globe.
Venue: Pearl Continental Hotel, Karachi - Pakistan
Time: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm (7th & 8th August)
Brochure: http://www.emesap.com/events/arm/request-brochure/ (Click here to download)
Seats: Limited to 150 seats, (50 % seats are already confirmed)
Visit www.emesap.com or send a query at risk@emesap.com in order to unveil the prospect.
EMESAP International Management offers a comprehensive array of services like conferences, trainings and workshops which consist of contemporary research, market trends and challenges to help your business succeed.

Taking Stock

Taking Stock: What do PEFA Assessments Tell Us About PFM Systems Across Countries?

Assessments based on the Public Financial Management (PFM) Performance Measurement Framework, developed by the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) initiative, provide detailed accounts of the performance of PFM systems along various dimensions. A recent working paper published by the Overseas Development Institute (http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/3333.pdf) brings together the results of 57 PEFA assessments completed until August 2007. It looks at comparative cross-country PFM performance, overall and across the different budget dimensions defined by the PEFA methodology (out-turns, cross-cutting features, budget cycle), and analyses differences linked to certain country characteristics which might have an influence over PFM system performance, using both bivariate and multivariate analysis. It is based on a numerical conversion of the letter-scores used in the assessments, a methodology which can be considered controversial but which nevertheless yields some interesting results.

Two overall findings become immediately evident. First of all, there is a large variation in overall average scores, ranging from Norway’s maximum score of 3.44 (roughly equivalent to a B+) to a minimum score of 1.46 (roughly equivalent to a D+). There are 14 countries that fall below the 2.00 mark (i.e. whose average score is below C), including countries from a range of regions and with different levels of income. The second immediate interesting finding is that average scores tend to deteriorate the further one moves down the various phases of the budget cycle. Given the large number of countries and dimensions involved, overall comparisons are not very useful in terms of detecting specific issues and trends. Instead, the paper compares PEFA scores looking at different country characteristics, including region, population size, and level of income, degree of dependency on foreign aid or natural resources, and strength of democratic institutions.

Taken one by one, these dimensions show some interesting trends, with countries in certain categories showing a better performance than others. However, such binary associations are not necessarily significant from a statistical point of view, and can therefore be potentially misleading. Multivariate regression analysis results highlight that the main factors which are correlated to variations in the overall PEFA score in a statistically significant way are the level of income, country size as measured by the log of the total population, and the degree of aid dependency. Regarding income levels, as expected an increase in per capita income is associated with an increase in overall average PEFA scores. Aid dependency levels are also significant in all models shown, with a positive coefficient but associated with very small changes in PEFA scores, meaning that higher aid dependency levels are associated with marginal improvements in PEFA scores. Finally, as far as population size is concerned, results seem to indicate that larger country size is generally associated with better PFM system performance.

Despite the limitations of the existing data, the analysis highlights some of the interesting comparisons that the existence of such data allows. PEFA assessments are a unique source of information which sheds light on an aspect of governance which until very recently had been mostly overlooked. As more and more assessments are carried out, and repeated in various countries, the availability of more data will allow for a more significant and robust analysis of the determinants and consequences of improvements in PFM system performance, with the potential to generate firmer and more nuanced conclusions. Such analysis could be complemented with a structured comparison of country case studies, in order to allow for a deeper investigation of the large number of factors that are likely to affect the quality of PFM systems and its evolution over time.

A Computerized Pacific

Three countries, the Cook Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu, requested IMF Pacific technical assistance center (PFTAC) to assess, analyze and audit their existing financial management information systems (FMISs). In all three countries, the host nation governments were operating relatively sophisticated off-the-shelf financial software products which had been in successful operation for over 5 years. The purpose of the mission, conducted by PFM regional advisor Suhas Joshi and a consultant, John Moore, was to determine what enhancements or changes might be needed in order to develop and implement an Integrated Financial Management Information System in each of these countries.

The World Bank (1) describes an "Integrated" FMIS, with the emphasis on "Integrated", as having four essential characteristics:

1. A standard data classification for recording events,

2. Common processes for similar transactions,

3. Internal controls over data entry, transaction processing, and reporting applied consistently, and

4. A design that eliminates unnecessary duplication of transaction entry.

These four general characteristics listed above were identified as hallmarks of an IFMIS and the three countries studied were assessed against these.

The mission assessed the maturity levels of the systems to be good. All three systems have some degree of regular backup with off-site backup storage, potential recoverability from routine failures is good, and the systems are being maintained at current release levels, including current vendor licenses and maintenance agreements. Sustainability is well demonstrated for all three systems.

But several of the government systems in the region have developed along a path where different line ministries have their own Financial Management Information Systems (FMISs) with the attendant problems of the inability of these different systems to communicate with each other. And, in two of the three countries examined, the systems were functioning with limited capacity and only as basic accounting systems. The systems will require significant changes before they can function as full fledged IFMIS. Therefore, the mission developed time tables for each of the three countries to move towards a full IFMIS.

The Cook Islands government is planning to standardize the accounting system and to integrate information from all ministries so that one single financial information system can comprehensively track the activities of all Government Departments and Ministries. Issues include the remoteness of the Outer Islands, secure electronic consolidation of financial information, and the expansion of the accounting function in MFEM to manage greater volumes of data.

In Tuvalu, the Government has used a COTS package, ACCPAC as its financial management information system for over ten years, but the full capabilities of the system are not exploited at present.  The mission therefore examined the capabilities of the system against the Government’s needs, identified appropriate upgrades where required, and assessed reporting and training requirements so that the full capabilities of the system can be utilized. The need for other, more modern and capable systems, if required, was also assessed. An important observation was the need to improve existing systems, rather than devote resources to installing ever new and more sophisticated systems, which could drain resources without significant improvement in PFM.

In Vanuatu, an IFMIS has been in place since 2002 and further developments are underway. The system is reported to have helped move Vanuatu from cash to a quasi-accrual accounting system capturing all transactions across Government and to have contributed to improving and promoting accountability and transparency. Recent enhancements in the form of the Vanuatu Budget Management System (VBMS) have taken place. The VBMS is an integrated component of the FMIS, which enables government departments and Ministries to prepare and submit their respective annual budgets on-line.

PFTAC has also identified several common issues across the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) in this area. These include IT/ICT infrastructure capacities and staff availability for training in remote islands. More work is being planned to examine whether a common regional strategy and a lessons learnt document can be developed which could help countries plan IFMIS introduction and expansion