I wanted to know whether i can choose company which is listed in newyork stcok exchange and follows Sarbanes Oxley act not uk combined code?
Other Accountancy Qualifications
OLD (Pre-Period 35) Topic 17 Corporate Governance - RESUBMISSIONS ONLY
Hi Trephena,
I must first thank you and the forum for the wealth of information that is available and how helpful it is in guiding us students.
I am currently doing Topic 17 and chose HSBC as my company for analysis, I have Barclays as the comparator but my mentor said i don't need a comparator. I read through the forum and saw that the use of a comparator would enhance the report so might still go ahead and use it.
My main struggle right now is part 3 and deciding what information from the code to use (since the code has a wealth of information and all of it seems relevant) and how to present it. I started by using a table format to state what the code says and then what HSBC's Annual Report says. for example re the composition of the board i wrote how the ED and NED should make up at least half of the board as well as the skills and experience and the diversity in terms of male to female percentage for the code section. Can i then go on to state that i used maybe a pie chart to show the results in figures 1 and 2 below and say something brief about the skills and experience in the table? what i am asking is if i can present part of the findings in the table itself and also as a pie chart?
Secondly, should i show the findings from my independent research directly after i compare the code to HSBC, during the comparison or as a summary in the conclusion? so far i have found that HSBC's practices as reported in their Annual Report are consistent with the code but found articles that mentioned some fines that HSBC were giving as well as them being accused of tax evasion for example. I am thinking this analysis would serve well in the conclusion section. What are your thoughts?
Hi Phillips,
Some thoughts to your question, hope it helps!
1) A comparator is optional for Topic 17. However, it has value in serving as a contrast and showing that the company cannot make excuses that "no one is doing it this way". Use it judiciously though, you may not have enough words if you compare every aspect.
2) Yes, you can present the findings in the table and also as a pie chart. The examiner looks at all content.
3) Findings from independent research are CRITICAL. You would need to place them throughout your Part 3, not just at the conclusion. Without independent research supporting your Part 3 and counterchecking what is said in the annual reports, you would be relying on the annual reports for the majority of your writings. This would lead to a high risk of failure because it is difficult to assess a company's CG based on what they say in their annual reports. Even the worst companies can have nicely worded CG reports.
P.s. - a small suggestion. While not mandatory, selecting a company that went through a public CG scandal is beneficial. This is because there would be alot of independent write-ups on the condition of the company and you could then tap on this vast pool of research.
We hope this helped!
The Learning Luminarium
Brief answer as I am on my hols :-D
Did you read my answers on p.15 &16 to arathy? BTW so far OBU has stuck to original title but you must avoid a ' tick-box approach'
You need to get plenty of critical and balanced evaluation into your work and as TLL say, this does not come from the annual report. Your own independent research is therefore vital.
Thanks LL and Trephena. I understand that independent research is critical. I think I am currently experiencing information overload and as a result is being confused.
@trephena said: @alfred I understand your apprehension as the list I put together sounds very daunting! Great that you have done P1 so recently as if you have access to a study text or relevant material, I hope it will pinpoint most of the relevant bits of the CIty Code for you so that should take some of the hard work out of it for you (and also explain Mendelow and other possible models) :-D . You may certainly use a UK company. Choose a plc as by law (the Companies Act) they have to put most of the information I have mentioned in their annual report either directly or indirectly. For example they normally have background details of their directors, their remuneration packages (as shareholders normally have to agree these) and pictures of them (so you can see if they have any women directors or not), the audit report shows the date the auditors sign off the accounts (so you can take the following day as the day they published it) etc. So you need to download a few annual reports to see what is in them before you take fright! I don't normally like recommending a particular company as I always feel that a student should choose one that interests and appeals to them, however to see for myself what sort of information is easily accessible I have just done an online search for Mark and Spencer with the link: https://annualreport.marksandspencer.com/ This link helpfully provides further links to the full annual report and there is even a specific quick link to the Governance section and Remuneration Reports so for this company it is easy to find most of the information that you will need. (Comparators for M & S would be Debenhams, House of Fraser or Next plc). If I were doing Topic 17 myself I would chose one of the banks as they have in the past few years been seriously falling down on governance issues (and I would enjoy the challenge as a forensic accountant of delving into the 'darker side' of their operations! :-) This is what I mean by choosing a company that interests you - I would find M & S OK but Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds etc personally very exciting as I know some of the banks, in spite of trying to appear 'shiny' in their annual reports, have indulged in 'dark deeds' in the last 5 years or so, that in some cases is only just coming to light) However you must also use other sources to balance up your report - such as the financial press and reuters or the BBC - here are links to the Daily Telegraph & BBC news finance pages: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ www.bbc.com/news/business/ You use the company information to compare governance facts (to the Code and with the comparator) and external sources to research more objective things to form an opinion on whether the board is acting ethically and to discover what shareholders and employees and suppliers think of the company. This part is obviously more difficult but you will need to search the external sources for relevant articles and information that may give you ideas and lead you to aspects of this. You certainly have time to produce a good quality report for the Period 29 submission in November depending on exactly what your other commitments are. I normally think 3 months is about right for a good RAP that should more than adequately meet the assessment criteria if the student puts in the effort and appreciates and understands all of the rules and requirements. Please read our forums on Referencing as Referencing is an area of frequent failure for the RAP and if you are aware of the rules you should learn to incorporate the principles of it in your work from the beginning. Somewhere students have posted details on the forums of how Microsoft Word will construct a reference list for you, which takes out a lot of the hard, boring work normally involved in this. Don't just read the OBU Info pack once, ensure that you refer to it regularly and think about the SLS at the beginning NOT the end as it makes it much easier to produce a good SLS if you think about it and start planning it early. :-DGreat information @trephena tnx
@trephena
I have been getting a lot of information from this forum. Thanks a lot.
I am using a MNC as my research company which is based in UK. It has subsidiaries in US and other countries (listed both in UK and US). Is it appropriate for me to just compare to the UK Governance Code?
The topic title is 'Quality of Corporate Governance.....' therefore although you will mainly be expected to use the UK code it may be appropriate to refer to Sarbanes-Oxley legislation in relation to the U.S. subsidiaries.
9y ago#428Hello Trephena,
I have two issues I need quick answers on.
Firstly I want to quote a definition of corporate governance I got from the applied governance website. Since in the website there was no date, should I use n.d. or 2017?
Secondly, I have done my bar charts and I did some calculations to arrive at it. What is meant by attaching the 'spreadsheet' used or IT software? This is not too clear to me.
I need to package my project promptly before submission. Revert. Thanks
Use n.d. as you have no idea when it was written.
If you have done calculations and graphs normally you would do this via Excel (or something similar). The requirement for passing criteria 7, IT, is that you produce the spreadsheet relating to this. If it was some other software then you should upload evidence of this as the marker will be left wondering where on earth the charts came from and how did you do them?
9y ago#430Thanks Trephena. I think I guessed your reply there.
One more issue bothering me. I used a bank in Nigeria. The last annual report was 2014 and they had 13 members in the board. When the Central bank of Nigeria intervened in July 2016 they - CBN appointed 8 members. The eight members can only be discovered in the bank website.
I did a bar chart stating in two parts stating 2014 and July 2016.
The referencing was :-
Source : S bank annual reports 2014 and skye bank website - board of directors, 2017
Is that good referencing or i should create different bank charts for both periods as well separating the referencing?
I did something similar as regards the Board committees.
Also how can one reduce a % to 2 or 3 decimal places in MS Excel.
Thanks in advance once again
As you have created the graphs yourself stating the source would be adequate for charts and graphs.
With Excel on the home page in the number section there is the option where it shows .00 and underneath ->0 (arrow zero) if you click on this after highlighting the cell it reduces the decimal places and the other button <- increases them. (You can set up the percentage initially be clicking on the % sign)
9y ago#432Thanks very much Trephena
Hello, has anyone come across any stats what is the rate of success for shareholders voting against directors in the UK? For example, Legal & General say they voted against 89 UK board directors in 2016. Are there any stats how many directors are not re-elected?
Unfortunately not as far as I am aware, although you could try to see if the Institute of Institutional Shareholders has produced any stats. There is more revolt generally these days if you follow the business press there are regular articles on this - see these from the last week or so - all of which must be good for corporate governance. For example Jes Staley, CEO of Barclays has not only has his pay docked but is facing pressure from shareholders to be removed as a consequence of his efforts to hunt down an anonymous whistle-blower. (In fact a former whistle-blower, Paul Moore thinks Staley should be sacked for gross misconduct as the CEO's purpose in seeking to discover who the whistle-blower was would have been to crush and remove the person ).
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/04/27/barclays-threatened-investor-revolt-agm/
and this article about shareholders rejecting a remuneration report for Pearsons the publishers:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39820637
@trephena said: FOR T17 SUBMISSION CHECKLIST PLEASE SEE PAGE 12 -then scroll down. I wrote this checklist for a previous submission period but the checklist is still valid for P34
@ashwinacca said: Hi Trephena, I am resubmitting the project on topic 17 and as you may remember, i was failed in the project due to lack of spreadsheet demonstration. In the latest info pack as you correctly guessed and the topic as changed from " An assessment of the quality of the corporate governance within an organisation and the impact on an organisation’s key stakeholders" to "Select an organisation that has been identified as having weak corporate governance structures within the past 5 years. Critically evaluate their corporate governance practices including an assessment of the origins of the corporate governance issue(s) and the organisation’s response." DOES THIS MEAN I HAVE TO CHANGE MY COMPANY NOW? ThankyouNot at all. When rules/ topics change they apply only to new submissions i.e. 1st submissions or where a student has decided to change organisation or topic (or as a consequence of an ACO decision has been told they must change one or both of these). A resubmission on the same company for T17 will be unaffected by the new rules for Period 35 regardless of when the resubmission is made
As a consequence of the change in title for Topic 17 I shall open a new Forum a topic for it.
If you are resubmitting under the old P34 title continue to post here but please use the new forum topic which I am calling 'Corporate Governance (T17 NEW submissions from Period 35' if you are attempting under the new title.
(Note some of the info and ideas on this old T17 forum may still be relevant as I have talked about scandals - these would mostly be in the second half of this forum and therefore it may be worth reading through from the end and working backwards by page)
@trephena said: Not at all. When rules/ topics change they apply only to new submissions i.e. 1st submissions or where a student has decided to change organisation or topic (or as a consequence of an ACO decision has been told they must change one or both of these). A resubmission on the same company for T17 will be unaffected by the new rules for Period 35 regardless of when the resubmission is madeHi Trephena, My project has been referred to the ACO and the below decision was made. "If you are eligible you may re-submit a new RAP. You may choose the same topic and research company, or change either." Can I please confirm that: 1. I can re-submit using the old P34 Topic 17 title using the same company? 2. If I were to change company, then I will need to re-submit using the new Topic 17 title? Thank you.
Sounds like your ACO offence was a relatively minor infringement of the rules as otherwise you have do a completely new report on a different topic or company.
I would take it that in your scenario:
1. This would be fine as it is being treated as a normal resubmission
2. You would be subject to the new rules as the company has been changed
@alfred are you around to answer a question?
Thank you.
Hey , sure yes. Please ask
Thank you for your response. I was wondering if it would be ok with to share you email with me and I could get in touch with you in case I need to share some material with you i need guidance on? I can't post it here due to plagiarism issues.
Thanks
Hi Trephena,
I just want to express a sincere thanks , from a student here in Singapore. While i may just be a passer by who found the open tuition website while searching for help on topic 17 , I find it extremely important to let people know that everything you could possibly need to pass this topic can be found in this forum.
We just got our results back today from the May 17 submission and im glad to say that i manage to get a passing grade B. The time and effort you have put in to teach your students is truly a marvel and i cannot say how much it has helped me throughout my journey with the research.
Once again, thank you kindly for all that you have done and i would like you to know you have changed my life.
Thank you
Congratulations to all those who passed. I know the feeling precisely having passed using this same platform in 2015
I concur thanks to Trephena and the Open Tuition team for setting up this forum for us to achieve our goals! The advice in this thread was invaluable and found my mentor through this site too! The combination was lethal - passed first time with B grade! Thanks again
8y ago#446Hello, I wish to appreciate Open Tuition for the insight given during my RAP. I really utilised your guidance and passed the RAP first time with a B. It is really a good experience. Thanks Trephena and Alfred for the immeasurable guidance. Am a student from Zambia. I thank God for the academic grace as I cleared ACCA in September, 2017. Thank you all and continue guiding other student on this platform.
Thank you all for your kind comments. It is great to see so many Grade Bs - so well done everyone :-D !
(The new Topic 17 will be more challenging but I think it is more exciting so hope students will still choose it - especially if they want to proceed to doing a Masters. As it offers opportunities to develop both research and critical thinking skills it will be an ideal preparation for those thinking of doing an MBA)
Hi Trephena Thanks God I have passed my RAP.I would like to thank you for all your support and help that you have provided me in the Research. Its a great achievement for me and a big value addition in my academics. Thank you again
8y ago#449Hi, just a correction, i cleared ACCA in September, 2016 not 2017 as earlier indicated.
First this thread is for OLD Topic 17 - and therefore only for those resubmitting on the OLD topic.
If you consult the thread for Topic 17 from Period 35 onward (when the T17 title changed) you will see that this company has been chosen by another student (and no doubt many more I suspect).
Tesco is now becoming rather dated and old and after Period 38 will be too old to be considered valid.
If you are enthusiastic about Carillion I suggest that you use it as I always suggest choosing something that interests you and also there is a lot of material around about it (as no doubt you have discovered) it you look at the UK online business pages.
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