ANALYSIS: Driving strategy

CFOs embrace technology and risk to drive strategy. They should look ahead and establish their transformational priorities for 2015 and beyond. By Aarti Takoordeen The role of CFOs is ever evolving as they become more influential and crucial strategic business partners. As a consequence of globalisation, advanced technology and dynamic regulation, business faces competitive threats…

VIEWPOINT: Avoiding regret

Life experiences teach us to avoid, as far as possible, any regrettable decisions. We all know what regret feels like: it’s an unpleasant feeling and it’s understandable that we’d do anything to avoid it. Imagine you buy a lottery ticket every week and always pick the identical sequence of numbers. One week, you decide to…

VIEWPOINT: Outlook cloudy in Africa

If you want to expand your business overseas, your choices are limited. Europe and other developed markets are debatably saturated, so the biggest opportunity lies in the undeveloped but burgeoning markets of Africa. Africa is seen as a land of opportunity, with masses of people desperately in need of limitless numbers of products and services,…

VIEWPOINT: Swedish lessons

I recently got back from more than two weeks in Scandinavia and my time in Sweden was a big unexpected surprise. I’ve done my fair share of travel, living abroad too. And Sweden was never really a consideration. Too cold, too boring, too not special. How wrong I was! The Swedes, with their famously high standard…

ANALYSIS: Security for costs

A new dispensation? The new Companies Act has removed the courts’ legislative discretion to require an impecunious plaintiff company to furnish security for costs. So what does this mean for defendants? By Willem Janse van Rensburg and Clayton Gow The repealed section 13 of the Companies Act 61 of 1973, together with its predecessor, section…