Institute news
CIMA president speaks at UK and Canada member events
In London in June, CIMA President Amal Ratnayake, FCMA, CGMA, spoke at a celebration for those who had become CIMA members over the past year and their guests. He said he was "truly honoured" to lead the Institute — the organisation that "has provided so many opportunities to me and so many others over the last 100 years". His advice to new members was: "As a management accountant, one thing you can plan for is the need to never stop learning. ... Predict what gaps you might come up against in the future and start closing those gaps."
Also in June, at the CIMA Centenary Gala in Toronto, about 120 members and guests heard the president talk about how CIMA has evolved over the past century and the current imperative to reimagine the profession. A few days later, Ratnayake spoke at — and played in — the CIMA Mayor's Trophy at Toronto's Sunnybrook Park. This annual cricket event raises funds for CIMA Canada's youth cricket programme, which brings together young people from diverse backgrounds to play the game. The event also provides an opportunity for the CIMA president and members to engage with Canadian municipal, provincial, and federal politicians, the media, employers, and the general public.
Ratnayake's speaking engagements for the year also included two events in September: the CGMA Africa Conference 2019 — Finance Transformation in the Digital World in Cape Town; and, in London, an event discussing social mobility within the profession.
Your Benevolent Fund: Please be generous
Please be generous in supporting the CIMA Benevolent Fund by making a donation at the same time you pay your 2020 CIMA subscription. We are asking for a £2 donation, but you will have the option of giving a larger amount.
The Benevolent Fund is the charity for CIMA members. Its sole purpose is to help members and their families should they get into difficulties — for example, long-term illness, lack of employment, or family problems.
The fund relies on CIMA members for the resources it needs to carry out this work.
You can find out more about the fund's work and also donate at cimaglobal.com. The CIMA Benevolent Fund is a registered charity no. 261114.
October’s focus on ethics in the A to E of finance
So far the "A to E" of finance has focused on automation, blockchain, cybersecurity, and data analytics. Whilst it is important for finance professionals to be digitally agile, they must also be aware of the ethical implications of technology disruptors. New technology brings with it new ethical dilemmas, from the impact of automation on jobs to the potential of biases to creep into the algorithms driving artificial intelligence. New materials will be published at cimaglobal.com in October that will explore the ethical challenges finance professionals may face in a digital world.
We will also be updating the ethics pages at cimaglobal.com in the coming months ahead of the launch of the new Code of Ethics in January, so keep an eye out for new materials and content to support your awareness of the Code and ethical dilemmas you may face in your role.
To read more about CIMA's updated Code of Ethics, see "New Code of Ethics Is True to CIMA's Core Principles".
AML and terrorist financing: New reports
In July, the European Commission adopted a Communication to the European Parliament accompanied by four reports (available at ec.europa.eu) that looked at better implementation of the EU's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recently published its Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment Guidance (available at fatf-gafi.org), which states that identifying, assessing, and understanding terrorist financing risk is essential for the disruption of terrorist networks. The guidance builds on the earlier 2013 FATF terrorist financing guidance and includes input from 35 jurisdictions across the globe.
The FATF also issued, in June, Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach: Accounting Profession (available at fatf-gafi.org). It highlights the need for a sound assessment of the money laundering and terrorist financing risks that accountants face; and the policies, procedures, and ongoing client due diligence (CDD) that mitigate those risks. The FATF also published its Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach: Trust and Company Service Providers (TCSPs) (available at fatf-gafi.org). In particular, it explores the obligation for TCSPs to identify and verify beneficial ownership information, providing examples of simplified, standard, and enhanced CDD measures.
CIMA will review all these reports and make any necessary improvements to its supervisory processes.