Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/756492
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 30 NOVEMBER 2016 11 Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way Institute of Accountants welcomes 211 new members The future is looking bright in Malta. With annual growth pre- dicted at 3% until 2019 and the recent upgrade of its credit rating to A- by Standard & Poor's, Malta has cemented its place as one of the top regional destinations for fi nancial services, iGaming, tour- ism, high-end manufacturing and tourism. There has never been a more exciting time to be an accountant and, not surprisingly, the nation's economy took centre stage at the Malta Institute of Accountants (MIA) New Members' Ceremony, which was held on October 6 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre (MCC) in Valletta. With 1,000 guests filling the Republic Hall, MIA president, Franco Azzopardi welcomed 211 new members joining the ranks of accountancy professionals. "As Malta's largest professional body, MIA represents some 3,000 accountants, while supporting the formation of 1,800 students," the president said. Present at the ceremony were representatives of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the University of Malta and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, being the three main routes to membership with the MIA. With increased foreign direct investment and a flourishing services sector, Malta needs to substantially increase the number of new accountancy graduates each year in order to sustain its growth. Over the last few years, Malta has had to draft in over 100 foreign accountants annually in order to match the local market's demands. Whilst local accountants are highly sought after, it is important that the requirement for a strong moral and ethical disposition is not pushed aside. Quantity and quality are synonymous and should go hand in hand – a sentiment that was echoed in his speech by guest speaker and former MIA president, Frederick Mifsud Bonnici, who was representing the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Also speaking at the event was Joseph N. Tabone, who was appointed as MIA's second president soon after Malta's independence. He went on to play a significant role in strengthening MIA's current international connections, having been amongst the first officials in 1973 to hold meetings with the then president of the Association of Certified Accountants in London, now known as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Thanks to these early initiatives, Maltese students are today eligible to qualify for the MIA and ACCA examinations, subject to country-specific regulations. Liz Hughes, the ACCA head of Mainland Europe and Ireland, also addressed the event. ACCA, she stated, supported some 188,000 members and 480,000 students in 178 countries, and this global reach helps Maltese accountants to develop successful careers both locally and overseas. The need for convergence between the main business education sources has become more crucial than ever. This point was raised by Prof. Frank Bezzina, the Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy at the University of Malta, the leading source for tertiary accountancy education on the island, producing some 100 accountancy graduates annually. Prof. Bezzina appealed to all stakeholders in the field to work closer together in their efforts to strengthen the appeal and values of this sector. The latter point was also brought up by Franco Azzopardi, who said that in spite of the 10% growth in MIA membership in 2015, more efforts were needed to further promote the accountancy profession on the island. As part of its ongoing efforts to achieve this aim, MIA has broadened its communications efforts significantly, targeting not only the profession and its members, but the public at large, including students, the business community and even other NGOs. During the last 12 months, MIA has embarked on an aggressive marketing drive, making use of traditional media channels such as the press, but also through email marketing and social media – with daily updates on the institute's newly set-up Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and G+ pages, reaching well over 300,000 people in just a few months. Samsung considers split as investor pressure builds Under pressure from sharehold- ers to improve investor returns, South Korean tech giant Sam- sung Electronics Co Ltd said it will consider creating a holding company in what would be the biggest shake-up in its 47-year history. The move comes after US hedge fund Elliott Management called for the South Korean firm to split itself into a holding vehicle and an operating company. Samsung also announced plans to increase dividends and said it would continue to buy back more shares. Restructuring pressure had been mounting after the Note 7 fiasco. In October, the company was forced to stop production of its flagship smartphone model after failing to resolve battery problems leading to overheating and the devices catching fire. Samsung said it would bring in "external advisers to conduct a thorough review of the optimal corporate structure". The firm pointed out that "the review does not indicate the management or the board's intention one way or another". Samsung also said it would pay out half of its free cash flow to shareholders for 2016 and 2017 and raise the dividend for 2016 by 36% compared to the previous year. In order to improve governance, the firm said it would nominate at least "one new, international, independent board member" as well as create a separate governance committee. The fund argued that a split would simplify the company structure, making it easier to get a clear valuation of the firm's assets. Currently, companies within the wider Samsung Group are linked through a complicated web of cross shareholding, linking Samsung Electronics to many other Samsung firms and affiliates, ranging from shipping, to heavy industries to insurance business. That makes it difficult for investors to get a clear idea of what each individual Samsung company is actually worth. The benefit of splitting Samsung Electronics into two companies would be that the cross-shareholding would affect only the holding company while the operating unit could be assessed separately – making it a lot easier to arrive at a clean company evaluation. The proposal has won support from several of Samsung's investors and it is also thought that it would give back more control to the founding Lee family behind the company. Samsung Electronics confi rmed it is considering dividing the company into two separate fi rms