The global economy continues to experience difficult conditions as the effects of the financial crisis—for example, on corporate cash flows and access to credit-persist. Volatility in capital markets, and issues including measurement and disclosure of exposures to sovereign debt of distressed countries, continue to create uncertainty. The impact of these issues and uncertainty has wide-ranging financial reporting implications that often extend beyond national borders.
These and other current economic conditions present unique challenges for management of organisations, especially the role of Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) and those charged with governance, in meeting their responsibilities, including assessing an entity’s ability to continue to drive sustainable development in the present business climate.
In light of the current development, the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) reminds its members their important responsibilities to respond to increasing demands from investors for information relating to financial, governance, environmental and social , and recommends how PAIB can better support their organisations in responding to these demands, and ultimately improve the management of an organization.
According to MIA President, Datuk Mohd Nasir Ahmad, “As professional accountants both support and fill leadership roles in management operations and control, as well as stakeholder communications, they are well placed to apply accounting discipline and rigor to the collection, analysis, and reporting of strategic data, and to support the incorporation of these information into their organisation’s management processes, systems, and reporting,”
“Their involvement in improving the relevance and quality of their organization’s internal and external business reporting will be critical to meet the challenge of increasing the use of these information.”
In line with this development and to ensure that PAIB are able to respond to the increasing demands of the marketplace, especially in these times when financial regulatory requirements are growing in complexity, MIA will be organizing the first Accountants in Business (AIB) Symposium 2012. The two-day symposium which targets professional accountants in business is scheduled to be held from 21- 22 March at the Royale Chulan Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
Prominent speakers at the symposium include Mohammad Faiz Mohammad Azmi, Chairman of the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB), Dato’ Sri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh, Executive Director & President / CEO of Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB); Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan, President of Transparency International Malaysia; Dr Yeah Kim Leng, Senior General Manager & Group Chief Economist of Ram Holdings Berhad; Denis Pratt, Head of Accounting Policy, External Positioning, Strategy Group CPA Australia and Noel Tagoe, Head of Research and Development, CIMA United Kingdom.
For more information about this symposium, kindly visit www.mia.org.my/aibs.