Finance & Equity

The COVID-19 pandemic shocked the world and left many scrounging for hand sanitiser and toilet paper as shopping aisles stood empty. Similar havoc was wreaked on financial markets as investors abandoned their long-term goals for the immediate emotional comfort on offer by moving either out of financial markets completely or into comparatively ‘safer’ assets.

The recent announcement that heavyweight Wall Street bank, JP Morgan Chase has agreed to buy UK Robo-Adviser, Nutmeg, indicates the far-reaching effects of COVID-19 on the financial advice and wealth management industry as big business embraces this new model.

Executive remuneration has become a symbol of inequality in today’s global economic order. Shareholders are becoming more active in demanding that executive pay is more closely linked to results and stakeholders want a broader focus on the context in which the organisation operates.

Fixing prices is not the terrain of the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA). In a recently published article, my colleague Dr Brian Benfield called for the outright abolition of regulatory price fixing with regard to the distribution of insurance products (i.e. insurance commission regulation Biznews). Indeed, it is astonishing that these regulations still exist.

The primary responsibility of every accountant is to serve the public interest first. But, as asked by the Roman poet Juvenal, 'Who will guard the guards themselves?' Who ensures accountants remain accountable? This is the function of professional accountancy organisations (PAOs), and it is the reason every accountant should be a member of such an association.

Ethics is one of the three pervasive skills competency areas to be developed in all entry-level CAs(SA) that SAICA requires in its rigorous qualification process.

Read our exclusive cover story titled CFO’s & CX! - IS FINANCE EVOLVING FROM HINDSIGHT TO FORESIGHT & INSIGHT? by Dzingira Matenga, Managing Director, CFO & Enterprise Value, Accenture in Africa, as well a host of other topical management articles written by professionals, consultants and academics in the December/January 2021/22 edition of BusinessBrief.

The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) has for the past three years run a survey among small and medium enterprises, both to learn how SAICA members can better serve the sector, and to offer relevant research findings to policymakers in government seeking to stimulate small business development.

Lately, I have received several questions from investors about how rich people go about their money. What do they do differently, or have they simply inherited wealth? Our clients include a substantial number of families who have accumulated wealth over many generations, but many are first generation.

On 27 June 2024, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) announced its enhanced Beneficial Ownership disclosures for the 2024 Filing Season. Not even 24 hours later, the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) issued a media release enforcing beneficial ownership (OB) declaration, to be able to file annual returns. This may simply be a compliance coincidence, but more likely a strategic move to eradicate non-compliance for companies, trusts, and partnerships, on all levels.