Malaysia - August 2007
ACCA MALAYSIA CFO SUMMIT 2007
Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia, August 2007
Over 150 CFOs and senior finance professionals from both small and large organisations attended a CFO Summit organised by ACCA Malaysia and ASLI (the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute). Delegates to the event, entitled 'CFO – Creator of Value in Uncertain Times', came from multinational corporations, public listed companies, banks, insurance conglomerates and SMEs, and included Ministry representatives. Guest of honour was YB Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen, Malaysia's deputy Finance Minister.
Most guests were ACCA members; several members also attended from East Malaysia as well as three from Brunei. At the Summit, many key, senior members were identified as possibly being able to contribute to future initiatives.
The Summit was designed to help CFOs redefine their objectives and roles in order to meet the challenges of the global economy and of climate change. Key issues discussed included the CFO’s role in corporate social responsibility and sustainability reporting, finance shared services and outsourced functions, XBRL and IFRS, talent management, and the regulatory updates required to meet current compliance standards.
Speakers at the Summit represented both local and international perspectives and included: Kurt Ramin, director of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation; Tengku Dato Azmil Zahruddin bin Raja Andul Aziz, CFO, Malaysia Airlines; Stéphane Nicolas Jean Marie Alby, executive director of finance and control, Nestlé Malaysia; and Vijay Sethu, CEO, CIMB Standard Strategic Assets Advisors.
The Summit also included a special address on professionalism and ethics, given as part of the opening ceremony by ACCA president Gillian Ball, who was subsequently quoted in the Edge Financial Daily, saying: 'Over-regulation is not the best answer to enhance corporate governance. A code of ethics and conduct should be made a ‘living
and breathing’ document. Organisations should focus on advocating the principle-based framework as opposed to just having legislation and regulation for ethical behaviour.'
The main sponsor of the Summit was Oracle, with additional corporate sponsorship from YTL Hotels and Properties, and Sunway–TES.