Sunday 14 September 2014

The importance of market recognition

How many routes are there to be a professional accountant? This seems to be a popular issue nowadays as the society is discussing about the need to have more professional accountants in Malaysia to serve our developmental and economics needs.

If we ask this questions to senior accountants who qualified in the 60's, they would recall the apprenticeship system in the old days where aspiring accountants paid their masters who were partners in Chartered Accounting firms to be trained under the Chartered Accountants programme. Those who went through this process ended up not just with the qualification but the skills and competencies which are required and recognised by the market.

The route of admission into the profession has evolved with the graduate entry approach adopted by many accountancy bodies. Aspiring professional accountants have to enrol into professional accountancy programmes and must pass all the papers which are relevant to the professional bodies including the integrated case study paper which requires them to apply their knowledge and skills on issues which resemble those that are faced by professional accountants in their workplace. 

Some professional accountancy bodies would require their students to obtain the relevant working experience while completing their professional programme to ensure they are able to learn from the real world. Some other professional bodies are more flexible where aspiring accountants can choose to complete all the papers before starting their work experience stage at approved training organisations or under the supervision of mentors who are themselves qualified professional accountants.

Whatever the route is, what matters is that the aspiring accountant must be able to meet the minimum competency level set by the relevant professional body, which itself will have to ensure the public that the standard set is relevant and serves public interest. Without such process, the professional body would not be able to gauge whether or not the person being admitted has the requisite knowledge, skills, experience and professional values. Those who fail to demonstrate that they have met the standard would not be admitted as members until they are able to do so in the future. If the professional body operates as a global body, it will maintain the same standard across the world. This is the reason why members of such bodies are able to obtain global recognition through the membership.

It is important for professional accountancy bodies to get market recognition. Factually, they are professional accountancy bodies which are not recognised or preferred by the market. This results in their members not being employed in senior positions or their professional career are limited. It would be sad if our young talents are not provided with proper career guidance and ended up realising they have made the wrong decision at the later stage of their life. This could also happen to those who choose not to pursue professional accountancy qualification. While this is not wrong and simply a personal choice, they should be prepared to accept the consequences if things do not work out well later.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is a UK-based global accountancy body which has an entry level programme known as Certified Accounting Technician or CAT. This enables aspiring accountants to start early by enrolling directly with ACCA through the CAT programme and could bypass the university system if they wish. While this innovation is welcome, there are people who are concerned that this has diluted the professional qualification as the process resembles a normal university programme.

As mentioned earlier, when the market is confident that the professional body is responsible in ensuring the professional qualification ensures the baseline standards are met, it would not be worried about the process but would scrutinise the product - qualified ACCA members. 

Let's look at some personalities who we may be familiar with who obtained the ACCA qualification and are serving organisations which are significant to our economics progress.

YB Senator Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid Omar - Minister in the Prime Minister Department in charge of economic planning










Tan Sri Dato' Azman Mokhtar - Managing Director Khazanah Nasional Berhad










Tan Sri Tony Fernandes - Founder and Chief Executive, Airasia









Datuk Wan Salamah Wan Sulaiman - Accountant General













Datin Alexandra Chin - ACCA Global Vice President










Dato' Sri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh - Group Managing Director MMC Corporation Berhad










Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed - Chairman of Public Accounts Committee, Parliament of Malaysia









Mohamed Rafique Merican - Group Chief Financial Officer, Maybank














Abdul Hamid Sheikh Mohamed - Executive Director, Symphony House Berhad














Amiruddin Abdul Satar - President/Managing Director, KPJ Healthcare Berhad















Of course there are many more ACCA members out there who are heading important roles in business and public sector which cannot be profiled here. I trust the above is sufficient to provide the confidence that once the market recognises your professional qualification, the world is at your feet.

Sunday 7 September 2014

Run With Me for Funds

Given the roles of the Securities Commission of developing and regulating the capital market, we could not disassociate ourselves from the issue of funding. However, being human, we are also concerned with those who are not as privileged and fortunate as many of us.

With that in mind,  more than 450 staff, family members and friends took to the street yesterday. No, we did not organise a demonstration or do anything of that nature but we had a jogathon for fun and to raise funds for the unfortunate.

Themed "Run with me for funds", this second instalment of the SC's Jogathon has attracted more participants than last year, when the activity was introduced for the first time.



I did the 4.5 km Fun Ran with my wife and daughter in-law while my son took part in the Men Open 6.5 km race. While all of us managed to complete our run, my son managed to finished 3rd in his race.

It was a great family affairs to all who participated and I hope more of this will be organised to ensure that non of us will be left behind unattended.






Abdul Halim Ismail Receives The Royal Award For Islamic Finance 2014

Let me reproduce the report from BERNAMA on the conferment of the Royal Award for Islamic Finance to Datuk Dr Abdul Halim Ismail, more known in Malaysia as the founder of Bank Islam, the first financial institution in Malaysia which operates based on Islamic principles.

Being first for a Malaysian, Datuk Dr Halim has certainly led innovation is this very important part of the society, finance. Without such an effort, a large portion of the community, the Muslims, will be disfranchised from the main stream economics opportunities as many of them are very concern about avoiding interest-based transactions, which is strictly prohibited in Islam.

Datuk Dr Abdul Halim receiving the award from Yang Dipertuan Agong


KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- Islamic finance visionary Datuk Dr Abdul Halim Ismail becomes the first Malaysian recipient of the Royal Award for Islamic Finance in recognition of his pivotal role in establishing the organisational structure and operating procedures of the first Islamic bank in 1983.

The award was conferred by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah at a dinner in conjunction with the Global Islamic Finance Forum 2014 (GIFF 2014) here, tonight.

Held every two years, the Royal Award is spearheaded by Bank Negara Malaysia and the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) under the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre's initiative.

It recognises Islamic finance visionaries who contribute significantly to the growth of the global economy and social progress.

Commenting upon receiving the award, Abdul Halim, who was former Bank Islam managing director, said Islamic finance is deeply connected with the real economy, offering ethical investments and funding options for businesses.

"The principles of Islamic finance also encourage inclusiveness to create a fair and equitable financial system that is accessible to all. I am honoured to receive the royal award," he added.

The former dean of the Faculty of Economics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Abdul Halim's expertise in Syariah law and Islamic banking put him in good stead to sit in Syariah boards of regulators in Bank Negara Malaysia, the SC, and the Labuan International Business and Financial Centre.

He had also served as Syarikat Takaful Malaysia chairman and helped set up Malaysia's first Islamic stockbroking company, BIMB Securities.

Under his vision and stewardship, both the industry and financial institutions flourished, making Islamic finance an increasingly attractive sector, complementing conventional finance.

He has been widely cited in published articles for his knowledge on Islamic economics, banking and finance.

Meanwhile, The Royal Award Chairman of the Jury Panel Tun Musa Hitam described Abdul Halim as a man of vision who has played a vital role in developing the region's Islamic banking industry.

Musa said 48 candidates were nominated for the award this year, a 25 per cent increase since it was first introduced in 2010.

He said Islamic finance is a still a work in progress in every aspect with its global asset expected to swell to US$2.5 trillion by 2015 from US$1.6 trillion at present.

Previous recipients of the Royal Award were Shaikh Sale Abdullah Kamel (2010) and Iqbal Khan (2012).

The Royal Award also accorded the late Dr. Ahmad El-Naggar with a posthumous honourable mention in 2010.

-- BERNAMA