A word from the president: 'we have a designation that sets the standard for business excellence'.
| Author | Furber, Malcolm |
A few weeks ago I watched Rogue Trader. If you have not seen it, the film tells the inside story of Nick Leeson, the former Barings Bank whizz kid who became infamous in the mid-1990s for running up $1.3bn-worth of liabilities and causing the bank to crash.
The film was a fascinating insight into the cut and thrust of the trading floors at that time. But the whole experience was made more real by the fact that the man now known as "the original rogue trader" recently gave a first-hand account of his story at the European CGMA conference.
The London-based event was a great success and it attracted top CGMAs and employers. It also provided an excellent platform to demonstrate the important role that chartered global management accountants can play in both public-and private-sector organisations. CGMAs are not only highly skilled in helping organisations to develop sustainable strategies for success; they are also bound by codes of conduct and ethics that provide a vital defence mechanism against "rogue" operations.
Leeson has always admitted his culpability, but he also maintains that too few checks were put in place at Barings to guard against "incompetence" and "negligence". As he puts it: "There were a lot of supporting acts within the bank at the same time."
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At the CGMA conference, both Leeson and Doug Bonthrone, former director for global services strategy at Coca-Cola, discussed how organisations can improve how they manage risk. The range and complexity of risk in today's business environment requires a systematic approach to managing them. But it also requires a change in mindset.
They were among a host of supremely good speakers at the event, including Robert Peston, the award-winning TV newsman and business editor. But one of the most powerful messages came from CIMA's own head of ethics, Tanya Barman. The ethical aspect of the qualification sets our members apart and gives them unrivalled recognition. She gave delegates much food for thought in terms of...
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