Section 45 of the new Companies Act – Liability for loans and other financial assistance to directors – remains a thorny issue, writes Natasha Sexton Two years have passed and implementation of the new Companies Act 71 of 2008 should be in full swing, or is it? One area that has resulted in much confusion…
Kerry Jenkins researched the impact of non-executive directors’ experience on company value in South Africa Corporate governance remains topical and has indeed become a catch-all buzzword for many problems or crises experienced by an organisation. Focus frequently starts with – or shifts from – management to the board with such questions as: Where were the…
“The power of accounting is often forgotten by students, educators and even professional accountants.” Like maths and science, accounting is considered boring by many people, especially in comparison to subjects like English, Art and Drama. These ‘creative’ subjects give students tools to comprehend other people’s stories and express their own dreams and wishes. Although tragically…
“When information is imperfect, the presence of inferior goods corrodes the market for quality goods.” Following hot on the heels of my rant at car scams last month, I came across a very interesting paper on the “The market for lemons”. Written in 1970 by economist George Akerlof, it discusses the used car market. A…
JSE company directors, CEOs and CFOs are still predominantly white and male Young CAs(SA) blood a cause for optimism A survey of all 475 JSE-listed companies has revealed that South African company directors, CEOs and CFOs are still predominantly white and male – but indicates hopeful signs of transformation within the younger generation. Specifically, this…
As you can well imagine, it was a very tough decision for the judges with so many incredibly successful candidates. After a whole month of anticipating who the winner might be, we are very proud to finally make the grand announcement: Winner: Gavin Lucas, lead founder and CEO of the Stor-Age Self Storage Group. Runner-up…
“Recent surveys show that companies reporting on their sustainability impacts are outperforming their competitors in key financial indicators and share value.” Few predicted the Asian financial crisis of 1997/98 and the 2001 Enron shock – and the finger of blame pointed directly at accounting standards. Most countries, including South Africa, have since adopted the International…
“Start with an interesting fact or statistic that you can use to introduce your talk.” Most people underestimate the value and the privilege of the platform to speak to a group of people. Regardless of whether or you are addressing five or 5 000 people, your purpose is the same – to change beliefs, attitudes,…
Christian Wiesener discusses the traditional approach to transfer pricing, which is still relevant and applied, and highlights the need for multinationals to “operationalise” – in other words to continuously implement their transfer pricing – and the benefits thereof The increased complexity of and focus on transfer pricing by governments and tax authorities globally have necessitated…
“The REAL (car) scam we should be talking about …” It seems that wherever I go lately, I’m either reading or hearing about the “R699 car scam”. The first time I heard about it I questioned it being termed a “scam” in the first place. Seems it was all in the fine print; one just…