title: Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

text: Michael Kimmel, a professor of sociology at Stony Brook University, makes the assertion that men and women are not fundamentally different, contrary to what Gray suggests in his book. In Kimmel's 2008 lecture at Middlebury College in Vermont, titled "Venus, Mars, or Planet Earth? Women and Men in a New Millennium", Kimmel contends that the perceived differences between men and women are ultimately a social construction, and that socially and politically, men and women want the same things.


title: Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

text: In 2002, author Julia T. Wood published a critical response to the portrayal of the genders in "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus". In the first chapter of the 2003 book, "The Essential Difference", Simon Baron-Cohen states: "the view that men are from Mars and women Venus paints the differences between the two sexes as too extreme. The two sexes are different, but are not "so" different that we cannot understand each other." In 2004, Erina MacGeorge, a Purdue University communications professor, said that based on research she conducted using questionnaires and interviews, men and women are not so different and "books like John Gray's "Men are From Mars and Women are From Venus" and Deborah Tannen's "You Just Don't Understand" tell men that being masculine means dismissing feelings and downplaying problems (which many men themselves that read the book disagree with). That isn't what most men do, and it isn't good for either men or women."


title: Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

text: A study by Bobbi Carothers and Harry Reis involving over 13,000 individuals found that on most psychological characteristics or tendencies, including the Big Five personality traits as well as sex-related questions like rating level of desire for casual sex, there was not a taxonomic difference between men and women on the vast majority of personality traits and preferences. Despite there being differences in averages by gender, the distributions overlapped so much that a taxonomic distinction was not meaningful. "Thus, contrary to the assertions of pop psychology titles like "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus", it is untrue that men and women think about their relationships in qualitatively different ways." There were notable taxonomic differences on physical attributes and measurements of physical strength.


title: Société Générale

text: Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English as SocGen (), is a French-based multinational financial services company founded in 1864, registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby in La Défense.


title: Société Générale

text: Société Générale is France's third largest bank by total assets after BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole. It is also the sixth largest bank in Europe and the world's eighteenth. It is considered a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board.


title: Société Générale

text: From 1966 to 2003 it was known as one of the "Trois Vieilles" ("Old Three") major French commercial banks, along with Banque Nationale de Paris (from 2000 BNP Paribas) and Crédit Lyonnais.


title: Société Générale

text: The bank was founded by a group of industrialists and financiers during the Second Empire on May 4, 1864. Its full name was "Société Générale pour favoriser le développement du commerce et de l'industrie en France" ("General Company to Support the Development of Commerce and Industry in France"). The bank's first chairman was the prominent industrialist Eugène Schneider, followed by Edward Charles Blount.


title: Société Générale

text: The bank started to hire employees and establish offices. Coverage of France went ahead at a steady rate. By 1870, the bank had 47 branches throughout France, including 15 in Paris. It set up a permanent office in London in 1871.


title: Société Générale

text: At the beginning, the bank used its own resources almost entirely for both financial and banking operations. In 1871, Société Générale moved into the public French issues market with a national debenture loan launched to cover the war indemnity stipulated in the Treaty of Frankfurt.


title: Société Générale

text: The bank was financially involved with some of the businesses created by Paulin Talabot, the railway and canal engineer. Talabot came to have an influential role in the bank.


title: Société Générale

text: In 1886, Société Générale was part of the bank consortium (along with the Franco-Egyptian Bank and the Crédit Industriel et Commercial) that financed the construction of the Eiffel Tower.


title: Société Générale

text: From 1871 to 1893, France went through a period of economic gloom marked by the failure of several banking establishments. The company continued to grow at a more moderate pace. In 1889, there were 148 banking outlets, demonstrating the group's capacity to withstand unfavourable economic conditions.


title: Société Générale

text: Starting in 1894, the bank set up the structures characterising a large, modern credit institution. As well as collecting company and private deposits, its branches started to provide short-term operating credits for industrialists and traders. It also moved into placing shares with the general public, issuing private debenture loans in France and also in Russia. Acquisition of equity stakes became a more secondary activity. The company's excellent financial health allowed it to expand its shareholding structure. In 1895, Société Générale had 14,000 shareholders.


title: Société Générale

text: By 1913, Société Générale had 122,000 shareholders. The war years were difficult and had serious consequences with the loss of Russian business. However, during the 1920s Société Générale became France's leading bank: its network had grown sharply since the 1890s, with a huge number of branches and seasonal offices allowing in-depth penetration of the provincial market (260 seasonal offices in 1910 and 864 in 1930).


title: Société Générale

text: Thanks also to the dynamism of supervisory and management staff at head office and in the branch offices it moved ahead of Crédit Lyonnais (in terms of deposits collected and loans distributed) between 1921 and 1928. To satisfy the requirements of investing companies, Société Générale created a subsidiary, Calif, specialised in medium-term credit in 1928.


title: Société Générale

text: On an international level, the bank held an active participation in the Russo-Asian Bank, one of the leading bank of the Russian empire. Société Générale first settled in Russia through the "Severnyi bank" in 1901, before merging with the Russo-Asian bank in 1910, which held a majority stake in the Chinese Eastern Railway. It also invested in Russian industry including such companies as the Rutchenko Coal Company and the Makeevka Steel Company. Thanks to the connections of Talabot they were also involved in the Krivoi-Rog Iron Company


title: Société Générale

text: The 1930s were another difficult period. Given the decline in international and French business, the bank was forced to nationalise its network by closing down local branches. On the eve of World War II, the number of sales outlets was not much greater than in 1922. However, Société Générale was active in placing numerous public loans launched during this period by the State or the colonies. The war and the German Occupation interrupted its advance, but the bank moved into Africa and the United States.


title: Société Générale

text: Société Générale was nationalised in 1945. It now had a single shareholder: the State. The period from 1945 to 1958 was characterised in France by rapid economic recovery but also a greater disequilibrium in the balance of payments, calling for continued exchange controls and virtually permanent credit control measures. It was not until 1959 that the economy really recovered, but credit controls were reinforced due to persistent inflationary pressures. Sharp growth in production and foreign trade opened up new areas of business for the banks.


title: Société Générale

text: The industry underwent some quite radical changes, one of the most striking of which was much greater specialisation of credit. The range of banking services on offer expanded uninterruptedly.


title: Société Générale

text: Thanks to its presence in New York City, Société Générale was able to take advantage of the flow of business generated by the Marshall Plan.


title: Société Générale

text: Société Générale continued to expand in France and beyond. It moved into Italy and Mexico and altered the status of its establishments in Africa after decolonisation, in accordance with the laws passed by these newly independent countries.


title: Société Générale

text: From the mid-1960s, Société Générale gave new impetus to its French network, with an acceleration in growth after 1966 following elimination of prior authorisation for opening branch offices. International expansion was just as vigorous. It was no longer limited, as before, to the main financial centres (London, New York), neighbouring countries (Belgium, Spain) and the former colonies, with the primary aim of facilitating the business of French firms, but was also aimed at guaranteeing the bank's presence where new markets were developing, either to export the technical expertise it had acquired in certain fields, or to keep up its contact with the multi-nationals.


title: Société Générale

text: 1966 and 1967 represented a fundamental turning point in banking regulations, the main development being attenuation of the distinction between deposit and investment banking, and creation of the home mortgage market. Société Générale took advantage of this and acquired leading positions in some new financing techniques designed primarily for companies, such as finance leasing, setting up specialised credit subsidiaries for this purpose.


title: Société Générale

text: The 1970s were characterised by two major developments: expansion of the international network and across-the-board introduction of IT facilities to cope with extension of the customer base and the development of deposit money. In 1971, the appearance of automatic cash machines crowned the success and development of the credit card. In 1973, Société Générale opened its representative office in the Soviet Union.


title: Société Générale

text: In 1975, Société Générale introduced Agrifan, a food-products trading company to connect French suppliers with foreign food buyers. The following year during the Bastille Day holiday, a meticulously planned robbery was carried out against Société Générale's most heavily fortified vault in France by ex-paratrooper and wedding photographer Albert Spaggiari. The robbery which involved secretly tunneling underground and compromising the walls of the bank vault netted Spaggiari over 12 million in cash, jewellery, and bullion.


title: Société Générale

text: From the beginning of the 1980s, against a backdrop of deregulation and technological change, internationalisation of the markets and the emergence of new financial instruments, Société Générale set itself two commercial objectives. It focused increasingly on private customers via its network of branches and by acquiring specialised subsidiaries. It pursued and expanded its activities in the capital markets in France, and then, on a selective basis, in the different international financial centres.


title: Société Générale

text: On July 29, 1987, Société Générale was privatised. It had been chosen from among the three leading French commercial banks nationalised in 1945 for its excellent risk-coverage, equity and productivity ratios. George Soros was a share-holder in 1988.


title: Société Générale

text: In 1986, Société Générale created Fimat International Banque S.A., a global brokerage, offering a range of clearing and execution services on listed or OTC derivatives and cash products. In 2005, Fimat completed the acquisition of Cube Financial. In January 2008, it merged with Calyon Financial to form Newedge; in 2014, SG purchased Credit Agricole's stake.


title: Société Générale

text: In subsequent years, the Société Générale Group has focused on developing its activities around three core businesses through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions.


title: Société Générale

text: In the early 1990s, the Senegalese subsidiary of Société Générale teamed up with the Swiss processed-foods manufacturer Nestlé to illegally dispossess the real estate assets of the Industrial Company of Dairy Products (SIPL), thus leading the dairy company to bankruptcy.


title: Société Générale

text: Retail Banking was strengthened in 1997 through the acquisition of Crédit du Nord, highlighting the Group's determination to capitalise on the restructuring of the French banking system. At the same time, Société Générale looked to secure the long-term loyalty of its customers (launch of "one account number for life" and introduction of Jazz, a package of service offers). In 1999 it entered into a merger agreement with rival bank Paribas, but this was scuppered by a competitor, the Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP).


title: Société Générale

text: In 1998 Société Générale paid $540 million in cash to acquire Cowen & Company, a New York investment bank that specialized in the health care, technology and communications industries. Cowen was taken over by the Societe Generale Securities Corporation, the French bank's New York investment bank, and renamed the SG Cowen Securities Corporation. Joseph M. Cohen, Cowen's chief executive became its chairman, and Curtis R. Welling, an investment banker from Societe Generale's New York office became president and chief executive.


title: Société Générale

text: In 1998, Société Générale set up Retail Banking outside France as a separate division, underscoring the Group's resolve to make this business one of its strategic development axes. This activity was also strengthened in 1999 through the acquisitions made in Romania (BRD – Groupe Société Générale), Bulgaria (Société Générale Expresbank) and Madagascar.


title: Société Générale

text: In the early years of the 21st century, Société Générale's external growth strategy has been manifested through acquisitions in Central Europe (Komerční Banka in the Czech Republic and in Slovenia) in 2001. Investment banking at Societe Generale in Russia was run by Jacques Der Megreditchian until 2000 At that time, Société Générale became officially concerned with money laundering scandal and underground economy.


title: Société Générale

text: In 2001, Société Générale acquired a controlling interest in the TCW Group. The TCW Group, which was founded in 1971, was originally known as Trust Company of the West and is the parent of TCW/Crescent Mezzanine one of the leading mezzanine capital firms in the US. The TCW Group operated as a subsidiary of Société Générale Asset Management until it was sold to Carlyle Group.


title: Société Générale

text: Africa is also a major area of interest for the bank, with the 2002 purchase of Eqdom in Morocco (the market leader in consumer lending) and in Tunisia. In addition, 51 percent of SSB Bank in Ghana in 2003 and 50 percent of Geniki Bank in Greece in 2004 were acquired . In terms of specialized financial services, a department created in mid-2001, the purchase of two Deutsche Bank subsidiaries, ALD Automotive for multi-brand auto leasing and financing and GEFA for corporate sales financing enabled Société Générale to increase its European presence in these sectors. In 2002, it continued to pursue its external growth strategy by purchasing Hertz Lease, a European subsidiary specializing in long-term leasing and fleet management for Ford Motor Company vehicles.


title: Société Générale

text: With a track record as leader in France for financial savings products (mutual funds, investment funds, company savings plans), the Group has developed its Asset Management and Private Banking activities: in 1999, its subsidiary, Société Générale Asset Management, pursued the strategy of developing both its mutual fund management business in France and its activities aimed at major institutional investors at an international level. With the launch of Société Générale AM UK in London and the acquisition of Yamaichi in Japan, Société Générale Asset Management has taken a decisive step in establishing its international presence and is now able to offer its customers truly global fund management capabilities. Société Générale also has a worldwide presence in private banking activities. After pursuing a deliberate policy of acquisitions in 1998, Société Générale Private Banking consolidated and developed its franchise in 1999 against a backdrop of tougher competition.


title: Société Générale

text: During the 1st quarter 2004, the third branch of activity of the Société Générale Group, GIMS Global Investment Management and Services was created. In February 2004, Société Générale set up a new division named SG GSSI, Global Securities Services for Investors, which provides investor services on securities and derivatives, attached to the GIMS which regroups SG Asset Management, SG Private Banking and SG Global Securities Services for Investors. GIMS employed 7,600 people.


title: Société Générale

text: In 2005, the Société Générale acquired DeltaCredit, the largest mortgage bank in Russia, from The U.S. Russia Investment Fund for $100 million.


title: Société Générale

text: The Société Générale developed its Corporate and Investment Banking businesses under the SG CIB brand name, introduced in 1998, which as of 2014 is subsumed by SG SS. Bolstered by a sound client base and a recognised capacity for innovation borne out by the league tables , Société Générale was looking to develop its M&A, advisory and IPO activities through the acquisition of specialised firms (SG Hambros in the United Kingdom, Barr Devlin in the United States).


title: Société Générale

text: Following two years of crisis resulting from the revelation of the Kerviel fraud and then from the eruption of the global financial crisis, the bank appeared to have put things behind it in 2010.


title: Société Générale

text: In business terms, Société Générale appeared intent on moving on and implementing an in-depth transformation in 2010. On June 15, the Bank presented its Ambition SG 2015 programme to investors, the aim of this programme being to "deliver growth with lower risk" by 2015, using the lessons learned from the crisis.


title: Société Générale

text: In 2010, the company saw an upturn in its financial results. Over the first half, the Group recorded net income of €2.15 billion.


title: Société Générale

text: These good figures were presented shortly after the publication of the results of the stress tests of 91 European banks, results that confirmed the financial solidity of the main four French banks, including Societe Generale.


title: Société Générale

text: During the summer of 2011, the financial markets, fearing the collapse of the eurozone associated with the European sovereign debt crisis, were severely shaken. European and French bank shares recorded substantial falls. It was within this context that Britain's "Mail on Sunday" published, on Sunday August 7, an article in which it announced Société Générale's imminent bankruptcy. The newspaper quickly published a retraction and its apologies but, despite that, the rumour gathered pace, notably on social networks, resulting in a spectacular fall in Société Générale's share price and in bearish speculation. Société Générale successfully filed a suit in the UK against Associated Newspapers (the "Mail on Sunday"'s parent company) for "substantial damage to its reputation and prejudice to its trade".


title: Société Générale

text: Bearish pressure, influenced by speculation but also by investor suspicion, continued to affect Société Générale's share price through to the end of 2011. Over the year, the share lost 57.22 percent of its value, the third-worst CAC 40 performance of 2011 (after Veolia and Peugeot).


title: Société Générale

text: In August 2020, it was reported that Société Générale experienced a €1.26 billion loss during the second fiscal quarter of 2020. It was the bank's weakest quarterly performance since 2008's Kerviel Fraud. As a result of this, Séverin Cabannes, the bank's global banking and investor solutions business head, is set to retire in 2021 and leave his place by the end of this year. Additionally, Philippe Heim, who serves as the head of international retail banking, financial services, and insurance, will also vacate his position as deputy chief executive immediately.


title: Société Générale

text: In December 2013, the European Commission fined the bank close to 446 million Euro for its role in the LIBOR scandal regarding interest rate derivatives.


title: Société Générale

text: In December 2021, Amundi finalized its acquisition of Lyxor Asset Management from Société Générale. Lyxor was an investment company based in France, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Société Générale. It offered exchanged-traded index funds and other ETFs, exchanged-traded notes (ETN), and several other products to private and corporate investors.


title: Société Générale

text: In April 2022, Société Générale became the first major financial group to leave Russian market because of International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War.


title: Société Générale

text: In May 2022, Société Générale announced the closing of the sale of Rosbank and the Group's Russian insurance subsidiaries to Interros Capital. This transaction results for Société Générale in a net loss of around 3.2 billion euros and has an impact of about -7 basis points on its capital ratio.


title: Société Générale

text: Société Générale is a universal bank. The Group consists of three main pillars backed by two business lines. Société Générale is often nicknamed "SocGen" (pronounced "sock jenn") in the international financial world.


title: Société Générale

text: Société Générale's three pillars, at the heart of the development of its relationship banking model, are:


title: Société Générale

text: Société Générale's head office is in the Tours Société Générale in the business district of La Défense in the city of Nanterre, west of Paris. The company moved there in June 1995 from the former head office along Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The head office has 7,000 employees. The former head office remains as the company's registered office.


title: Société Générale

text: In 2015, Standard Ethics Aei has given a rating to Société Générale in order to include it in its Standard Ethics French Index.


title: Société Générale

text: The Group has a long-term active and generally very discreet support policy. Its sponsorship of rugby is well-known, but its support in other fields such as music, contemporary art, disabled sport (as an official partner of the Fédération Française Handisport, the French Federation for Disabled Sports) and corporate citizenship, professional integration and disadvantaged children, is less known.


title: Société Générale

text: In the early 1990s, the Senegalese subsidiary of Société Générale teamed up with the Swiss processed-foods manufacturer Nestlé to illegally dispossess the real estate assets of the Industrial Company of Dairy Products (SIPL), thus leading the dairy company to bankruptcy.


title: Société Générale

text: On January 24, 2008, the bank announced that a single futures trader at the bank had fraudulently lost the bank €4.9 billion (an equivalent of US$7.2 billion), the largest such loss in history. The company did not name the trader, but other sources identified him as Jérôme Kerviel, a relatively junior futures trader who allegedly orchestrated a series of bogus transactions that spiraled out of control amid turbulent markets in 2007 and early 2008.


title: Société Générale

text: Partly due to the loss, that same day two credit rating agencies reduced the bank's long term debt ratings: from AA to AA- by Fitch; and from Aa1/B to Aa2/B- by Moody's (B and B- indicate the bank's financial strength ratings).


title: Société Générale

text: Executives said the trader acted alone and that he may not have benefited directly from the fraudulent deals. The bank announced it will be immediately seeking €5.5 billion in financing. On the eve and afternoon of January 25, 2008, Police raided the Paris headquarters of Société Générale and Kerviel's apartment in the western suburb of Neuilly, to seize his computer files. French presidential aide Raymond Soubie stated that Kerviel dealt with $73.3 billion (more than the bank's market capitalization of $52.6 billion). Three union officials of Société Générale employees said Kerviel had family problems. On January 26, 2008, the Paris prosecutors' office stated that Jerome Kerviel, 31, in Paris, "is not on the run. He will be questioned at the appropriate time, as soon as the police have analysed documents provided by Société Générale." "Spiegel Online" stated that Kerviel may have lost 2.8 billion dollars on 140,000 contracts earlier negotiated due to DAX falling 600 points.


title: Société Générale

text: Société Générale SA says it had a net loss in the fourth quarter of 2007 after the French bank took a €4.9 billion ($7.18 billion) hit closing the unauthorized trading positions of Jérôme Kerviel.


title: Société Générale

text: The trial of Jérôme Kerviel began on June 8, 2010, at the Paris Palais de Justice, and lasted until June 25. Société Générale filed the civil suit. The former Société Générale trader was represented by Olivier Metzner, and the Bank was represented by Jean Veil, Jean Reinhart and François Martineau.


title: Société Générale

text: The trial aroused much media interest, with a record number of requests for accreditation from journalists.


title: Société Générale

text: Following more than two weeks of highly technical debate with much focus on Jérôme Kerviel's character, the State Prosecutor called for the former trader to be given a five-year prison sentence, two of them suspended, whilst Kerviel's lawyer called for his client to be acquitted.


title: Société Générale

text: The ruling was announced on October 5, 2010, at 11 am. Jérôme Kerviel was found guilty of the three charges filed against him: breach of trust, fraudulent inputting of data into an IT system and forgery and use of forged documents. He was found to be solely responsible for the record loss suffered by Société Générale in early 2008, and was sentenced to five years in prison, with two of those years suspended, and ordered to pay damages of €4.9 billion to the Bank.


title: Société Générale

text: Jérôme Kerviel immediately launched an appeal on the basis of an "unreasonable decision", according to his lawyer Olivier Metzner. Kerviel's sentence has therefore been suspended until the appeal, which is due to take place between June 4 and 28, 2012, and he is presumed innocent until that time.


title: Société Générale

text: The huge amount of damages Kerviel was ordered to pay gave rise to much emotion amongst the general public and online. The sentencing of one man to pay such a large sum of money was met with incomprehension and anger amongst Internet users. The Bank announced that the sum was "symbolic" and it had no expectation that the sum would be paid by Jérôme Kerviel.


title: Société Générale

text: On March 21, 2008, Société Générale filed suit in Istanbul Commercial Court against Goldaş, a Turkish Jewelry firm, claiming the company had not paid for 15 tonnes(15,000 kg) of gold it had received through a consignment agreement. Goldaş stated that the consignment agreement was only for 3,250 kg of gold with a value of US$94 million. In June 2008, the court found Goldaş not guilty.


title: Société Générale

text: On March 15, 2009, AIG disclosed that, among its counterparties, Société Générale was to date the largest recipient of both credit default swap (CDS) collateral postings ($4.1 bn) and CDS payments ($6.9 bn), payments made possible in part by the 2008 U.S. government bailout of AIG.


title: Société Générale

text: French reporter Denis Robert and former No. 3 of Cedel ,a whistleblower of Clearstream have accused Société Générale of having non-published accounts in Clearstream, which was at the centre of a financial scandal in 2009. The bank denied those accusations.


title: Société Générale

text: In 2010 the French government's Autorité de la concurrence (the department in charge of regulating competition) fined eleven banks, including Société Générale, the sum of 384,900,000 Euros for colluding to charge unjustified fees on check processing, especially for extra fees charged during the transition from paper check transfer to "Exchanges Check-Image" electronic transfer.


title: Société Générale

text: In December 2013, the European Commission fined the bank close to €446 million for its role in the LIBOR scandal regarding interest rate derivatives.


title: Société Générale

text: In February 2014, Société Générale agreed to pay $122 million to the Fannie Mae and the Freddie Mac for misleading them in the purchase of mortgage-backed securities.


title: Société Générale

text: In January 2017, Société Générale agreed to pay $50 million to settle a claim by the American government of fraudulent concealment of residential mortgage-backed securities quality.


title: Société Générale

text: In March 2014, the Libyan Investment Authority has filed a $1.5 billion lawsuit in London's High Court against Société Générale. The claims against the bank involve derivative transactions that took place from 2007 to 2009, and Société Générale is accused of funneling at least $58 million in bribes to Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. The French bank denied those allegations


title: Société Générale

text: In February 2016, Société Générale paid $26.8 million to settle charges in a case of municipal bond derivatives where the French bank is accused of anticompetitive and fraudulent conduct.


title: Société Générale

text: In March 2016, Société Générale was mentioned in the Panama Papers: It was among the 10 banks that asked for the most offshore shell companies for the account of its clients via the Mossack Fonseca firm. Its headquarters were searched by the French tax police on April 5, 2016, as the bank was linked with the creation of 979 offshore companies. In 2012, CEO Frédéric Oudéa said that Société Générale withdrew from all countries belonging to the grey list of tax havens compiled by the OECD, including Panama. Despite this previous statement, Mr Oudéa defended that those offshore companies were not meant to be used as tax evasion vehicles.


title: Société Générale

text: In November 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $53,966,916.05 settlement with Société Générale S.A. to settle potential civil liability for apparent violations of U.S. sanctions. The settlement resolves OFAC's investigation into Société Générale S.A.'s processing of transactions to or through the United States or U.S. financial institutions in a manner that removed, omitted, obscured, or otherwise failed to include references to OFAC-sanctioned parties in the information sent to U.S. financial institutions that were involved in the transactions.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), also known as extracorporeal life support (ECLS), is an extracorporeal technique of providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange or perfusion to sustain life. The technology for ECMO is largely derived from cardiopulmonary bypass, which provides shorter-term support with arrested native circulation. The device used is a membrane oxygenator, also known as an artificial lung.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: ECMO works by temporarily drawing blood from the body to allow artificial oxygenation of the red blood cells and removal of carbon dioxide. Generally, it is used either post-cardiopulmonary bypass or in late-stage treatment of a person with profound heart and/or lung failure, although it is now seeing use as a treatment for cardiac arrest in certain centers, allowing treatment of the underlying cause of arrest while circulation and oxygenation are supported. ECMO is also used to support patients with the acute viral pneumonia associated with COVID-19 in cases where artificial ventilation alone is not sufficient to sustain blood oxygenation levels.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: Guidelines that describe the indications and practice of ECMO are published by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO). Criteria for the initiation of ECMO vary by institution, but generally include acute severe cardiac or pulmonary failure that is potentially reversible and unresponsive to conventional management. Examples of clinical situations that may prompt the initiation of ECMO include the following:


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: Beginning in early February 2020, doctors in China have increasingly been using ECMO as an adjunct support for patients presenting with acute viral pneumonia associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) when, with ventilation alone, the blood oxygenation levels still remain too low to sustain the patient. The initial reports indicate that it is assisting in restoring patients' blood oxygen saturation and reducing fatalities among the approximately 3% of severe cases where it has been utilized. For critically ill patients, the mortality rate reduces from around 59–71% with conventional therapy to approximately 46% with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. A March 2021 "Los Angeles Times" cover story illustrated the efficacy of ECMO in an extremely challenging COVID patient. In February 2021, three pregnant Israeli women who had "very serious" cases of COVID-19 were given ECMO treatment and it seemed this treatment option would continue.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: Early studies had shown survival benefit with use of ECMO for people in acute respiratory failure especially in the setting of acute respiratory distress syndrome. A registry maintained by ELSO of nearly 51,000 people that have received ECMO has reported outcomes with 75% survival for neonatal respiratory failure, 56% survival for pediatric respiratory failure, and 55% survival for adult respiratory failure. Other observational and uncontrolled clinical trials have reported survival rates from 50 to 70%. These reported survival rates are better than historical survival rates. Even though ECMO is used for a range of conditions with varying mortality rates, early detection is key to prevent the progression of deterioration and increase survival outcomes.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: In the United Kingdom, veno-venous ECMO deployment is concentrated in designated ECMO centers to potentially improve care and promote better outcomes.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: Most contraindications are relative, balancing the risks of the procedure versus the potential benefits. The relative contraindications are:


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: A common consequence in ECMO-treated adults is neurological injury, which may include intracerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage, ischemic infarctions in susceptible areas of the brain, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, unexplained coma, and brain death. Bleeding occurs in 30 to 40% of those receiving ECMO and can be life-threatening. It is due to both the necessary continuous heparin infusion and platelet dysfunction. Meticulous surgical technique, maintaining platelet counts greater than 100,000/mm, and maintaining the target activated clotting time reduce the likelihood of bleeding.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is increasingly common among people receiving ECMO. When HIT is suspected, the heparin infusion is usually replaced by a non-heparin anticoagulant.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: There is retrograde blood flow in the descending aorta whenever the femoral artery and vein are used for VA (Veno-Arterial) ECMO. Stasis of the blood can occur if left ventricular output is not maintained, which may result in thrombosis.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: In VA ECMO, those whose cardiac function does not recover sufficiently to be weaned from ECMO may be bridged to a ventricular assist device (VAD) or transplant. A variety of complications can occur during cannulation, including vessel perforation with bleeding, arterial dissection, distal ischemia, and incorrect location.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: Preterm infants are at unacceptably high risk for intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) if administered ECMO at a gestational age less than 32 weeks.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: The prevalence of hospital-acquired infections during ECMO is 10-12% (higher compared to other critically ill patients). Coagulase-negative staphylococci, "Candida" spp., "Enterobacteriaceae" and "Pseudomonas aeruginosa" are the most frequently involved pathogens. ECMO patients display a high incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (24.4 cases/1000 ECMO days), with a major role played by "Enterobacteriaceae". The infectious risk was shown to increase along the duration of the ECMO run, which is the most important risk factor for the development of infections. Other ECMO-specific factors predisposing to infections include the severity of illness in ECMO patients, the high risk of bacterial translocation from the gut and ECMO-related impairment of the immune system. Another important issue is the microbial colonisation of catheters, ECMO cannulae and the oxygenator.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: There are several forms of ECMO; the two most common are veno-arterial (VA) ECMO and veno-venous (VV) ECMO. In both modalities, blood drained from the venous system is oxygenated outside of the body. In VA ECMO, this blood is returned to the arterial system and in VV ECMO the blood is returned to the venous system. In VV ECMO, no cardiac support is provided.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: In veno-arterial (VA) ECMO, a venous cannula is usually placed in the right or left common femoral vein for extraction, and an arterial cannula is usually placed into the right or left femoral artery for infusion. The tip of the femoral venous cannula should be maintained near the junction of the inferior vena cava and right atrium, while the tip of the femoral arterial cannula is maintained in the iliac artery. In adults, accessing the femoral artery is preferred because the insertion is simpler. Central VA ECMO may be used if cardiopulmonary bypass has already been established or emergency re-sternotomy has been performed (with cannulae in the right atrium (or SVC/IVC for tricuspid repair) and ascending aorta).


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: VA ECMO is typically reserved when native cardiac function is minimal to mitigate increased cardiac stroke work associated with pumping against retrograde flow delivered by the aortic cannula.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: In veno-venous (VV) ECMO, cannulae are usually placed in the right common femoral vein for drainage and right internal jugular vein for infusion. Alternatively, a dual-lumen catheter is inserted into the right internal jugular vein, draining blood from the superior and inferior vena cavae and returning it to the right atrium.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: ECMO should be performed only by clinicians with training and experience in its initiation, maintenance, and discontinuation. ECMO insertion is typically performed in the operating room setting by a cardiothoracic surgeon. ECMO management is commonly performed by a registered nurse, respiratory therapist, or a perfusionist. Once it has been decided to inititiate ECMO, the patient is anticoagulated with intravenous heparin to prevent thrombus formation from clotting off the oxygenator. Prior to initiation, an IV bolus of heparin is given and measured to ensure that the activated clotting time (ACT) is between 300 and 350 seconds. Once the ACT is between this range, ECMO can be initiated and a heparin drip will be started after as a maintenance dose.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: Cannulae can be placed percutaneously by the Seldinger technique, a relatively straightforward and common method for obtaining access to blood vessels, or via surgical cutdown. The largest cannulae that can be placed in the vessels are used in order to maximize flow and minimize shear stress. However, limb ischemia is one of the notorious complications of ECMO but can be avoided utilizing a proper distal limb perfusion method. In addition, ECMO can be used intraoperatively during lung transplantation to stabilize the patient with excellent outcomes.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: ECMO required for complications post-cardiac surgery can be placed directly into the appropriate chambers of the heart or great vessels. Peripheral (femoral or jugular) cannulation can allow patients awaiting lung transplantation to remain awake and ambulatory with improved post-transplant outcomes.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: Following cannulation and connection to the ECMO circuit, the appropriate amount of blood flow through the ECMO circuit is determined using hemodynamic parameters and physical exam. Goals of maintaining end-organ perfusion via ECMO circuit are balanced with sufficient physiologic blood flow through the heart to prevent stasis and subsequent formation of blood clot.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: Once the initial respiratory and hemodynamic goals have been achieved, the blood flow is maintained at that rate. Frequent assessment and adjustments are facilitated by continuous venous oximetry, which directly measures the oxyhemoglobin saturation of the blood in the venous limb of the ECMO circuit.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: VV ECMO is typically used for respiratory failure, while VA ECMO is used for cardiac failure. There are unique considerations for each type of ECMO, which influence management.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: High flow rates are usually desired during VV ECMO to optimize oxygen delivery. In contrast, the flow rate used during VA ECMO must be high enough to provide adequate perfusion pressure and venous oxyhemoglobin saturation (measured on drainage blood) but low enough to provide sufficient preload to maintain left ventricular output.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: Since most people are fluid-overloaded when ECMO is initiated, aggressive diuresis is warranted once the patient is stable on ECMO. Ultrafiltration can be easily added to the ECMO circuit if the patient has inadequate urine output. ECMO "chatter", or instability of ECMO waveforms, represents under-resuscitation and would support cessation of aggressive diuresis or ultrafiltration. There is an increased risk of acute kidney injury related to the use of ECMO and systemic inflammatory response.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: Left ventricular output is rigorously monitored during VA ECMO because left ventricular function can be impaired from increased afterload, which can in turn lead to formation of thrombus within the heart.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: For those with respiratory failure, improvements in radiographic appearance, pulmonary compliance, and arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation indicate that the person may be ready to be taken off ECMO support. For those with cardiac failure, enhanced aortic pulsatility correlates with improved left ventricular output and indicates that they may be ready to be taken off ECMO support. If all markers are in good status, the blood flows on the ECMO will be slowly decreased and the patients parameters will be observed during this time to ensure that the patient can tolerate the changes. When the flows are below 2 liters per minute, permanent removal is attempted and the patient is continued to be monitored during this time until the cannulae can be removed.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: VV ECMO trials are performed by eliminating all countercurrent sweep gas through the oxygenator. Extracorporeal blood flow remains constant, but gas transfer does not occur. They are then observed for several hours, during which the ventilator settings that are necessary to maintain adequate oxygenation and ventilation off ECMO are determined as indicated by arterial and venous blood gas results.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: VA ECMO trials require temporary clamping of both the drainage and infusion lines, while allowing the ECMO circuit to circulate through a bridge between the arterial and venous limbs. This prevents thrombosis of stagnant blood within the ECMO circuit. In addition, the arterial and venous lines should be flushed continuously with heparinized saline or intermittently with heparinized blood from the circuit. In general, VA ECMO trials are shorter in duration than VV ECMO trials because of the higher risk of thrombus formation.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: ECMO was developed in the 1950s by John Gibbon, and then by C. Walton Lillehei. The first use for neonates was in 1965.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: Banning Gray Lary first demonstrated that intravenous oxygen could maintain life. His results were published in "Surgical Forum" in November 1951. Lary commented on his initial work in a 2007 presentation wherein he writes, "Our research began by assembling an apparatus that, for the first time, kept animals alive while breathing pure nitrogen. This was accomplished with very small bubbles of oxygen injected into the blood stream. These bubbles were made by adding a 'wetting agent' to oxygen being forced through a porcelain filter into the venous blood stream. Shortly after its initial presentation to the American College of Surgeons, this apparatus was reviewed by Walton Lillehei who with DeWall made the first practical heart[–]lung machine that employed a bubble oxygenator. With variations such machines were used for the next twenty years."


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: Four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of ECMO in respiratory failure patients. Early trials conducted by Zapol et al. and Morris et al. were plagued by technical challenges related to the ECMO technology available in the 1970s and 1990s. The CESAR and EOLIA trials utilized modern ECMO systems and are considered the central ECMO RCTs.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: The Conventional Ventilatory Support vs. Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Severe Adult Respiratory Failure (CESAR) Trial was a UK-based multicenter RCT aiming to evaluate the safety, efficacy and cost effectiveness of ECMO compared to conventional mechanical ventilation in adults with severe but reversibly respiratory failure. Death or severe disability at 6 months or prior to hospital discharge was the primary outcome. The primary outcome was analyzed by intention to treat only. Economic analysis included quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), analysis of cost generating events, cost-utility 6-months post-randomization and modelling of life-time cost utility. The trial planned to enroll 180 patients; 90 to each arm.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: The Trial met its enrollment goal of 180 patients. 68 of the 90 (75%) of the patients intended to be treated with ECMO were actually treated with ECMO. Survival of patients allocated to the ECMO group (i.e. referred for consideration for treatment with ECMO) was significantly higher than patients allocated to the conventional ventilation group (63% vs 47%, p=0.03). The referral to ECMO group gained 0.03 QALY compared to the conventional ventilation group at the 6-month follow-up. The referral to ECMO group had longer lengths of stay and higher costs.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: No standardized treatment protocol for the conventional ventilation group is the main limitation of the CESAR study. The trial authors note that this occurred due to the inability of enrolling sites to agree on a protocol. This resulted in control patients not receiving lung protective ventilation which is known to improve mortality in ARDS patients.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: The authors conclude that referral of patients with severe, potentially reversible respiratory failure to an ECMO center can significantly improve 6-month, severe disability free survival. The CESAR trial results do provide a direct survival comparison for treatment with ECMO versus conventional mechanical ventilation alone since only 75% of the ECMO group were actually treated with ECMO.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: The ECMO to Rescue Lung Injury in Severe ARDS (EOLIA) Trial was designed to evaluate the effects of early ECMO initiation compared to continued standard of care (conventional mechanical ventilation) in severe ARDS patients. Mortality at 60 days was the primary endpoint. The calculated sample size was 331 patients with an intent to show a 20% reduction in absolute mortality in the ECMO group. The main secondary endpoint was treatment failure – cross-over to ECMO due to refractory hypoxemia or death in the control group and death in the ECMO group.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: Following the fourth planned interim analysis the trial was ended due to futility. A total of 249 patients were enrolled at study termination. Thirty-five control group patients (28%) required emergency cross-over to ECMO. Results of EOLIA demonstrated no significant difference in 60-day mortality between the ECMO group and the control group (35% vs 46%, respectively). The interpretation of this result however is complicated by the cross-over patients. The secondary endpoint, treatment failure, demonstrated a relative risk of 0.62 (p<0.001) in favor of the ECMO group. Results of the secondary endpoint should be interpreted cautiously due to the primary end point results. With respect to safety, the ECMO group had significantly higher rates of severe thrombocytopenia and bleeding requiring transfusion, but lower rates of ischemic stroke.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: The primary limitation to the EOLIA Trial was that it was underpowered. For EOLIA to have been properly powered to detect significance of an 11% reduction in mortality a total of 624 patients would need to have been enrolled. Such a trial would take 9 years based on the EOLIA recruitment rates and is likely not feasible.


title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

text: The main conclusion the study authors drew from these results is that early ECMO initiation in severe ARDS patients does not provide a mortality benefit compared to continued standard of care treatment. Subsequent editorials by key opinion leaders suggest that the practical implication is that ECMO may improve mortality if used as a rescue therapy for patients failing conventional ARDS therapies.


title: Chartered accountant

text: Chartered accountants were the first accountants to form a professional accounting body, initially established in Scotland in 1854. The Edinburgh Society of Accountants (1854), the Glasgow Institute of Accountants and Actuaries (1854) and the Aberdeen Society of Accountants (1867) were each granted a royal charter almost from their inception. The title is an internationally recognised professional designation; the certified public accountant designation is generally equivalent to it. Women were able to become chartered accountants only following the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 after which, in 1920, Mary Harris Smith was recognised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and became the first woman chartered accountant in the world.


title: Chartered accountant

text: Chartered accountants work in all fields of business and finance, including auditing, taxation, financial and general management. Some are engaged in public practice work, others work in the private sector and some are employed by government bodies.


title: Chartered accountant

text: Chartered accountants' institutes require members to undertake a minimum level of continuing professional development to stay professionally competitive.


title: Chartered accountant

text: They facilitate special interest groups (for instance, entertainment and media, or insolvency and restructuring) which lead in their fields. They provide support to members by offering advisory services, technical helplines and technical libraries. They also offer opportunities for professional networking, career and business development.


title: Chartered accountant

text: Chartered Accountants Worldwide comprises 15 institutes with over 1.8 million Chartered Accountants and students in 190 countries.


title: Chartered accountant

text: Chartered accountants of Australia belong to the Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (CA ANZ, formerly the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia) and use the designatory letters "CA". Some senior members (at least 15 years' membership) of the institute may be elected fellows and use the letters "FCA". Of equal legal status and recognition in Australia as qualified professional accountants are Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) and CPA Australia. On 28 June 2016, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and CA ANZ announced a strategic alliance to provide an opportunity for dual membership of both bodies, which will add value for the members locally and globally. ACCA members resident in Australia and New Zealand will be invited to apply for CA membership and CA ANZ members will be invited to apply for ACCA membership, subject to meeting the eligibility criteria of the other body.


title: Chartered accountant

text: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) is the national professional accounting body of Bangladesh. Established in 1973, it is the sole organization with the right to award the Chartered Accountant designation in Bangladesh. Senior members (at least five years' membership) of the institute are called "fellow members" and use the letters "FCA".


title: Chartered accountant

text: Bangladesh has more than 1,900 registered Chartered Accountants and more than 32,000 articled students.


title: Chartered accountant

text: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bermuda works with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and is the sole organisation in Bermuda with the right to award the Chartered Accountant designation.


title: Chartered accountant

text: In Canada, chartered accountants belong to the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) by way of membership in at least one provincial or territorial institute (or "order" in Quebec). In order to become a member, a candidate requires an undergraduate degree plus experience and, depending on the province, additional education. Candidates in all provinces are required to pass the three-day Uniform Evaluation (UFE) now Common Final Examination (CFE).


title: Chartered accountant

text: Since 2012, the CICA has been in a process of unification with the other two accounting bodies in Canada. Canadian CA's, along with Certified General Accountants (CGAs) and Certified Management Accountants (CMAs), have now adopted the designation Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), making the term "chartered accountant" obsolete.


title: Chartered accountant

text: In the Czech Republic, Chartered Accountants are generally members of Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Czech Republic and use the designatory letters "CAE" (Chartered Accountant expert). Chartered Accountants may also be members of the Chamber of Auditors of the Czech Republic (KACR), with whom the ICAEW launched its ACA qualification in 2015.


title: Chartered accountant

text: Under the Mutual Recognition Directive, European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss nationals holding a professional qualification can become members of the equivalent bodies in another member state.


title: Chartered accountant

text: They must, however, pass an aptitude test in understanding local conditions (which for accountants will include local tax and company law variations).


title: Chartered accountant

text: The local title is, however, not available for use if the professional does not choose to join the local professional body. For example, a holder of the French ""  qualification could practise as an accountant in England without taking a local test but could only describe themself as "expert-comptable (France)" not "Chartered Accountant". Within the EEA, only the UK and Ireland have bodies that issue the Chartered Accountant title.


title: Chartered accountant

text: In India, Chartered Accountants are regulated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) which was established by the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.


title: Chartered accountant

text: Associate members of the ICAI are entitled to add the prefix "CA" to their names. Members who are in full-time practice, and have completed five years of practice, can use "Fellow Chartered Accountant(FCA)". As of 1 April 2021, the Institute had 327,081 members.


title: Chartered accountant

text: Entry to the profession can be made by taking the CA Foundation Course after completion of schooling (12th grade). Alternatively, graduates may train as an articled assistant for three years in a chartered firm before final exam or after completion of Intermediate of Cost Accountant or Company Secretary.


title: Chartered accountant

text: A comprehensive 100 hours of information technology training and an orientation programme for soft skills development have to be completed before being articled. However the CA certification is limited to the geographical boundary of India and is not valid in countries that follow different standards of accounting practice. After clearing of CA final examination, one may apply for membership to ICAI.


title: Chartered accountant

text: The Institute of Indonesia Chartered Accountants, formerly Indonesian Institute of Accountants or Ikatan Akuntan Indonesia is the national organisation of professional accountants in Indonesia. IAI is a founding member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the ASEAN Federation of Accountants (AFA).


title: Chartered accountant

text: In Ireland, Chartered Accountants are generally members of Chartered Accountants Ireland and use the designatory letters ACA or FCA. Chartered accountants may also be members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales or the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.


title: Chartered accountant

text: In Nepal, the profession of Chartered Accountancy is regulated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN) which was established by parliament under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1997.


title: Chartered accountant

text: After completion of three levels of examination (CAP I, CAP II, and CAP III) with three years of articleship training under a qualified CA, one can get the membership of ICAN and with the Certificate of Practice (COP), one can practise as a professional accountant.


title: Chartered accountant

text: In New Zealand, Chartered Accountants belong to the Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (CA ANZ, formerly New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants) and use the designatory letters CA. Some senior members may be elected fellows and use the letters FCA.


title: Chartered accountant

text: There is also a mid-tier qualification called Associate Chartered Accountant with the designatory letters ACA. Associate chartered accountants are not eligible to hold a certificate of public practice and therefore cannot offer services to the public.


title: Chartered accountant

text: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) is the professional body of Chartered Accountants in Pakistan, established on 1 July 1961 under the Chartered Accountants Ordinance, 1961. ICAP is the sole body and authority in Pakistan which has a mandate to regulate the accounting and auditing profession in the country. It adopts and develops the national auditing standards and develops accounting standards for the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP). It represents accountants employed in public practice, business and industry, and the public sector. The institute is a member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), which is the global organization for the accountancy profession.


title: Chartered accountant

text: ICAP has more than 7,000 active members and more than 25,000 students. Other national accountancy bodies include Institute of cost and management accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP), PIPFA, etc. ICAP and ICMAP are full members of International federation of accountants and PIPFA is an associate member. Besides these national accountancy bodies, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) & Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) UK Bodies also has a strong presence in Pakistan.


title: Chartered accountant

text: The Chartered Accountant of Singapore (CA (Singapore)) title is protected under the Singapore Accountancy Commission (SAC) Act. The pathway to obtain the designation is owned by the SAC, a statutory body of the government. The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) is a designated entity in the SAC Act and confers the CA (Singapore) designation on behalf of SAC. The Singapore Chartered Accountant Qualification programme has three components: academic base, professional programme and 3 years of practical experience. ISCA and the SAC have worked to raise the profile and promote the Singapore CA Qualification for international recognition.


title: Chartered accountant

text: Applicants who are eligible for the Singapore Chartered Accountant Qualification foundation programme should have either accredited degrees, other degrees, undergraduates and local polytechnic diplomas. Those with who are eligible for direct entry into the professional programme should have local accountancy degrees from Nanyang Technological University, National University of Singapore, Singapore Management University, Singapore University of Social Sciences, and Singapore Institute of Technology.


title: Chartered accountant

text: In 2013, holders of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and CPA Australia have until 31 December 2016 and existing students have until 31 December 2018 to complete the ICPAS PAC and qualify for the "Chartered Accountant of Singapore" professional designation through the previous transitional arrangements.


title: Chartered accountant

text: In South Africa, SAICA, the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, regulates the Chartered Accountant (South Africa) designation, CA (SA).


title: Chartered accountant

text: To qualify as a CA (SA), one requires a specialised bachelor's degree in accounting, followed by a Certificate in the Theory of Accounting (CTA); depending on the university, this is offered as a postgraduate honours degree or as a postgraduate diploma. This formal education is followed by two external competency exams set by SAICA.


title: Chartered accountant

text: A separate registration is needed for Chartered Accountants wishing to act as auditors in public practice as a registered auditor (RA). The RA designation is conferred by IRBA (Independent Regulatory Board For Auditors, previously known as Public Accountants and Auditors Board [PAAB]) under the Auditing Profession Act (AP Act).


title: Chartered accountant

text: Candidates must complete three years of practical experience, working for a registered training office – the Training In Public Practice (TIPP) programme. Articled clerks who switch employers during this period are required to extend their training by six months. The Training Outside Public Practice (TOPP) programme has a financial management focus; TOPP trainees can thus become Chartered Accountants with a more limited knowledge and experience of auditing than those who undergo the TIPP programme, but with a more extensive financial management and business experience.


title: Chartered accountant

text: Chartered accountants who are not registered auditors may not act as or hold out to be auditors in public practice. However, the AP Act does not prohibit non-RAs from using the description 'internal auditor' or 'accountant', or from auditing a not-for-profit club, institution or association if they receive no fee for such audit.


title: Chartered accountant

text: In South Africa the Companies Act was replaced, with effect in July 2010, to allow companies without a public interest to choose between an audit or an independent review. A review is not an attest function and can be performed by accountants who are members of bodies that are registered in terms of the Close Corporations Act of 1984, which include SAIBA, CIMA, SAICA, SAIPA and ACCA.


title: Chartered accountant

text: In Sri Lanka, the title of Chartered Accountant (CA Sri Lanka) can be used by only members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. These could be Associate Members (ACA) and Fellows (FCA). Chartered accountants holding practising certificates may also become Registered Auditors, who are able to perform statutory financial audits in accordance with the Companies Act, No. 07 of 2007. Chartered Accountants can also register as company secretaries.


title: Chartered accountant

text: The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales is an awarding body, conferring the postnominals ACA and FCA.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: The borders of Russia changed through military conquests and by ideological and political unions in the course of over five centuries (1533–present).


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: The name "Russia" for the Grand Duchy of Moscow began to appear in the late 15th century, and became official in 1547 when the Tsardom of Russia was established. The Grand Duchy of Moscow was one of the successors in part of the territory of medieval Kievan Rus'. Another important starting point was the official end in 1480 of the overlordship of the Tatar Golden Horde over Moscovy, after its defeat in the Great Stand on the Ugra River. Ivan III (reigned 1462–1505) and Vasili III (reigned 1505–1533) had already expanded Muscovy's borders considerably by annexing the Novgorod Republic (1478), the Grand Duchy of Tver in 1485, the Pskov Republic in 1510, the Appanage of Volokolamsk in 1513, and the principalities of Ryazan in 1521 and Novhorod-Siverskyi in 1522.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: After a period of political instability between 1598 and 1613, which became known as the Time of Troubles, the Romanovs came to power (1613) and the expansion-colonization process of the Tsardom continued. While western Europe colonized the New World, the Tsardom of Russia expanded overland – principally to the east, north and south.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: This continued for centuries; by the end of the 19th century, the Russian Empire reached from the Baltic Sea, to the Black Sea, to the Pacific Ocean, and for some time included colonies in the Americas (1732–1867) and a short-lived unofficial colony in Africa (1889) in present-day Djibouti.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: The first stage from 1582 to 1650 resulted in North-East expansion from the Urals to the Pacific. Geographical expeditions mapped much of Siberia. The second stage from 1785 to 1830 looked South to the areas between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The key areas were Armenia and Georgia, with some better penetration of the Ottoman Empire, and Persia. By 1829, Russia controlled all of the Caucasus as shown in the Treaty of Adrianople of 1829. The third era, 1850 to 1860, was a brief interlude jumping to the East Coast, annexing the region from the Amur River to Manchuria. The fourth era, 1865 to 1885 incorporated Turkestan, and the northern approaches to India, sparking British fears of a threat to India in the Great Game.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: Historian Michael Khodarkovsky describes Tsarist Russia as a "hybrid empire" that combined elements of continental and colonial empires. According to Kazakh scholar Kereihan Amanzholov, Russian colonialism had "no essential difference with the colonialist policies of Britain, France, and other European powers". Qing China defeated Russia in the early Sino-Russian border conflicts, although the Russian Empire later acquired Outer Manchuria in the Amur Annexation. During the Boxer Rebellion, the Russian Empire invaded Manchuria in 1900, and the Blagoveshchensk massacre occurred against Chinese residents on the Russian side of the border. Russian Empire reached its maximum territory in Asia with the Russo-Japanese War, where after its defeat, Russia ceded Manchuria, southern Sakhalin, Russian Dalian, and Port Arthur to Japan with the Treaty of Portsmouth, though Russia kept the northern portion of the Chinese Eastern Railway.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: Czarist and imperial Russia's territorial gains and losses, up to the 1905 Russian Revolution, listed chronologically:


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: After the October Revolution of November 1917, Poland and Finland became independent from Russia and remained so thereafter. The Russian empire ceased to exist, and the Russian SFSR, 1917–1991, was established on much of its territory. Its area of effective direct control varied greatly during the Russian Civil War of 1917 to 1922. Eventually the revolutionary Bolshevik government regained control of most of the former Eurasian lands of the Russian Empire, and in 1922 joined the RSFSR to Belarus, Transcaucasia, and Ukraine as the four constituent republics of a new state, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (or Soviet Union, USSR), which lasted until December 1991.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: In 1919, northern Mhlyn, Novozybkiv, Starodub, and Surazh counties ("s") of Ukraine's Chernihiv Governorate were transferred from the Ukrainian SSR to the new Gomel Governorate of the Russian republic. In February 1924, Tahanrih and Shakhtinsky counties ("okruhas") were transferred from the Donetsk Governorate of Ukraine to Russia's North Caucasus krai.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: Of these, Pechenga, Salla, Tuva, Kaliningrad Oblast, Klaipėda, the Kurils, and Sakhalin were added to the territory of the RSFSR.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: The Chinese Eastern Railway, formerly a tsarist concession, was taken again by the Soviet Union after the 1929 Sino-Soviet conflict, the railway was returned in 1952.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: Meanwhile, territories were removed from the Russian SFSR, including Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in 1924, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in 1936, and Karelo-Finland from 1945 to 1956. The Crimean oblast and city of Sevastopol were transferred to Ukraine on 19 February 1954 (later annexed by the Russian Federation in 2014).


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: After World War II, the Soviet Union set up seven satellite states, known as “European colonies”, while remaining independent though their politics, military, foreign and domestic policies were dominated by the Soviet Union:


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: The dissolution of the Soviet Union has led to the creation of independent post-Soviet states, with the Russian SFSR declaring its independence in December 1991 and changing its name to the Russian Federation.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria was a secessionist government of the Chechen Republic during 1991–2000. After Russian defeat at the Battle of Grozny, the First Chechen War ended with Russia recognizing the new Ichkerian government of president Maskhadov in January 1997 and signing a peace treaty in May. But Russia invaded again in 1999, restoring a Chechen Republic and the Ichkeria government was exiled in 2000.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: The Russian Federation has been involved in territorial disputes with several its neighbours, including with Japan over the Kuril Islands, with Latvia over the Pytalovsky Raion (settled in 1997), with China over parts of Tarabarov Island and Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island (settled in 2001), with its coastal neighbours over Caspian Sea boundaries, and with Estonia over the adjoining border. Russia also had disputes with Ukraine over the status of the federal city of Sevastopol, but agreed it belonged to Ukraine in the 1997 Russian–Ukrainian Friendship Treaty, and over the uninhabited Tuzla Island, but gave up this claim in the 2003 Treaty on the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: The Russian Federation has also used its armed forces, armed formations, and material support to help establish the disputed breakaway states of Transnistria in Moldova after the Transnistria War, and South Ossetia and Abkhazia, after the 2008 war in Georgia. In 2008, shortly after announcing the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev laid out a foreign policy challenging the US-dominated "single-pole" world order and claiming a privileged sphere of influence in the near abroad around the Russian Federation and farther abroad. Following these conflicts, both Transnistria and South Ossetia have made proposals for joining Russia.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: In 2014, when after months of protests in Ukraine, pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was deposed in the Revolution of Dignity, Russian troops occupied Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, and after a hasty referendum the Kremlin annexed Crimea and Sevastopol. The annexation was not recognized by Ukraine or most other members of the international community. A few weeks later, an armed conflict broke out the Donbas region of Ukraine, in which the Kremlin denies an active role, but is widely considered to be fuelled by soldiers, militants, weapons, and ammunition from the Russian Federation.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: On February 21, 2022, the Russian president signed a decree recognizing the independence of two Donbas republics in Ukraine, and invaded the region. Two days later, Russian troops openly invaded Ukrainian-held territory of Ukraine, a move widely seen as an attempt to conduct regime change and occupy much or all of Ukraine. After failing to seize Ukraine's capital Kyiv for over a month, the Russian defence minister stated that the main goal of the war was the "liberation of the Donbas", but later a Russian general stated that it was to seize eastern and southern Ukraine right through to Transnistria, a breakaway territory in Moldova.


title: Territorial evolution of Russia

text: On 30 September 2022, Putin announced in a speech that Russia was to annex four partially occupied regions of Ukraine: Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. However, Russia's annexation of these territories was widely condemned by the international community, and Russia does not control the full territory of any of the four annexed regions, and its government was unable to describe the new international "borders".


title: Susa

text: Susa ( ; Middle ; Middle and Neo-; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid ; Achaemenid ; ; ; ; ; or ; ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital of Elam and the Achaemenid Empire, and remained a strategic centre during the Parthian and Sasanian periods.


title: Susa

text: The site currently consists of three archaeological mounds, covering an area of around one square kilometre. The modern Iranian town of Shush is located on the site of ancient Susa. Shush is identified as Shushan, mentioned in the Book of Esther and other Biblical books.


title: Susa

text: The English name is derived from Ancient Greek (), which is ultimately derived from an original Elamite name, which was written as () in its Middle Elamite form, () in its Middle and Neo-Elamite forms, () in its Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid forms, and () in its Achaemenid Elamite form.


title: Susa

text: Susa was one of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East. In historic literature, Susa appears in the very earliest Sumerian records: for example, it is described as one of the places obedient to Inanna, patron deity of Uruk, in "Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta".


title: Susa

text: Susa is also mentioned in the Ketuvim of the Hebrew Bible by the name Shushan, mainly in the Book of Esther, but also once each in the Books of Nehemiah and Daniel. According to these texts, Nehemiah also lived in Susa during the Babylonian captivity of the 6th century BC (Daniel mentions it in a prophetic vision), while Esther became queen there, married to King Ahasuerus, and saved the Jews from genocide. A tomb presumed to be that of Daniel is located in the area, known as "Shush-Daniel". However, a large portion of the current structure is actually a much later construction dated to the late nineteenth century, ca. 1871.


title: Susa

text: Susa is further mentioned in the "Book of Jubilees" (8:21 & 9:2) as one of the places within the inheritance of Shem and his eldest son Elam; and in 8:1, "Susan" is also named as the son (or daughter, in some translations) of Elam.


title: Susa

text: In 1851, some modest excavation was done by William Loftus, accompanied by Fenwick Williams, who identified it as Susa. Among his finds was a jar containing a around 110 coins, the earliest of which was dated to 697-98 AD.


title: Susa

text: In 1885 and 1886 Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy and Jane Dieulafoy began the first French excavations, discovering glazed bricks, column bases, and capitals from the palace of the Achaemenid kings. However, they failed to identify mudbrick walls, which were then destroyed in the course of excavation. Almost all of the excavations at Susa, post-1885, were organized and authorized by the French government.


title: Susa

text: In two treaties in 1894 and 1899, the French gained a monopoly on all archaeological excavations in Iran indefinitely. Jacques de Morgan, after visiting the site in 1891, conducted major excavations from 1897 until 1911. The excavations that were conducted in Susa brought many artistic and historical artifacts back to France. These artifacts filled multiple halls in the Museum of the Louvre throughout the late 1890s and early 1900s. De Morgan's most important work was the excavation of the Grande Tranchée in the Acropole mound, where he found the stele of Naram-Sin, a collection of Babylonian kudurrus (boundary stones), the stele bearing the Code of Hammurabi, an ornamented bronze table of snakes, the bronze statue of Queen Napir-Asu, and thousands of inscribed bricks. His finds showed Susa to be the most important center of Elamite civilization, which was effectively discovered by the French mission at Susa.


title: Susa

text: Excavation efforts continued under Roland De Mecquenem until 1914, at the beginning of World War I. French work at Susa resumed after the war, led by De Mecquenem, continuing until World War II in 1940. To supplement the original publications of De Mecquenem the archives of his excavation have now been put online thanks to a grant from the Shelby White Levy Program.


title: Susa

text: Roman Ghirshman took over direction of the French efforts in 1946, after the end of the war. Together with his wife Tania Ghirshman, he continued there until 1967. The Ghirshmans concentrated on excavating a single part of the site, the hectare sized Ville Royale, taking it all the way down to bare earth. The pottery found at the various levels enabled a stratigraphy to be developed for Susa.


title: Susa

text: In 2019 the Susa salvage project was launched to counter the construction of a transportation underpass in the vicinity of the site.


title: Susa

text: In urban history, Susa is one of the oldest-known settlements of the region. Based on C14 dating, the foundation of a settlement there occurred as early as 4395 BC(a calibrated radio-carbon date). In the region around Susa were a number of towns (with their own platforms) and villages that maintained a trading relationship with the city, especially those along the Zagro frontier.


title: Susa

text: The founding of Susa corresponded with the abandonment of nearby villages. Potts suggests that the settlement may have been founded to try to reestablish the previously destroyed settlement at Chogha Mish, about 25 km to the west. Previously, Chogha Mish was also a very large settlement, and it featured a similar massive platform that was later built at Susa.


title: Susa

text: Shortly after Susa was first settled over 6000 years ago, its inhabitants erected a monumental platform that rose over the flat surrounding landscape. The exceptional nature of the site is still recognizable today in the artistry of the ceramic vessels that were placed as offerings in a thousand or more graves near the base of the temple platform.


title: Susa

text: Susa's earliest settlement is known as the "Susa I" period (c. 4200–3900 BC). Two settlements named by archaeologists the "Acropolis" (7 ha) and the "Apadana" (6.3 ha), would later merge to form Susa proper (18 ha). The "Apadana" was enclosed by 6 metre thick walls of rammed earth (this particular place is named Apadana because it also contains a late Achaemenid structure of this type).


title: Susa

text: Nearly two thousand pots of "Susa I" style were recovered from the cemetery, most of them now in the Louvre. The vessels found are eloquent testimony to the artistic and technical achievements of their makers, and they hold clues about the organization of the society that commissioned them.


title: Susa

text: Painted ceramic vessels from Susa in the earliest first style are a late, regional version of the Mesopotamian Ubaid ceramic tradition that spread across the Near East during the fifth millennium BC. Susa I style was very much a product of the past and of influences from contemporary ceramic industries in the mountains of western Iran. The recurrence in close association of vessels of three types—a drinking goblet or beaker, a serving dish, and a small jar—implies the consumption of three types of food, apparently thought to be as necessary for life in the afterworld as it is in this one. Ceramics of these shapes, which were painted, constitute a large proportion of the vessels from the cemetery. Others are coarse cooking-type jars and bowls with simple bands painted on them and were probably the grave goods of the sites of humbler citizens as well as adolescents and, perhaps, children. The pottery is carefully made by hand. Although a slow wheel may have been employed, the asymmetry of the vessels and the irregularity of the drawing of encircling lines and bands indicate that most of the work was done freehand.


title: Susa

text: Copper metallurgy is also attested during this period, which was contemporary with metalwork at some highland Iranian sites such as Tepe Sialk.


title: Susa

text: Susa came within the Uruk cultural sphere during the Uruk period. An imitation of the entire state apparatus of Uruk, proto-writing, cylinder seals with Sumerian motifs, and monumental architecture is found at Susa. According to some scholars, Susa may have been a colony of Uruk.


title: Susa

text: There is some dispute about the comparative periodization of Susa and Uruk at this time, as well as about the extent of Uruk influence in Susa. Recent research indicates that Early Uruk period corresponds to Susa II period.


title: Susa

text: Daniel T. Potts, argues that the influence from the highland Iranian Khuzestan area in Susa was more significant at the early period, and also continued later on. Thus, Susa combined the influence of two cultures, from the highland area and from the alluvial plains. Potts also stresses the fact that the writing and numerical systems of Uruk were not simply borrowed in Susa wholesale. Rather, only partial and selective borrowing took place, that was adapted to Susa's needs. Despite the fact that Uruk was far larger than Susa at the time, Susa was not its colony, but still maintained some independence for a long time, according to Potts. An architectural link has also been suggested between Susa, Tal-i Malyan, and Godin Tepe at this time, in support of the idea of the parallel development of the Proto-Cuneiform and proto-elamite scripts.


title: Susa

text: Some scholars believe that Susa was part of the greater Uruk culture. Holly Pittman, an art historian at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia says, "they Susanians are participating entirely in an Uruk way of life. They are not culturally distinct; the material culture of Susa is a regional variation of that on the Mesopotamian plain". Gilbert Stein, director of the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute, says that "An expansion once thought to have lasted less than 200 years now apparently went on for 700 years. It is hard to think of any colonial system lasting that long. The spread of Uruk material is not evidence of Uruk domination; it could be local choice".


title: Susa

text: Susa III (3100–2700 BC) is also known as the 'Proto-Elamite' period. At this time, Banesh period pottery is predominant. This is also when the Proto-Elamite tablets first appear in the record. Subsequently, Susa became the centre of Elam civilization.


title: Susa

text: Ambiguous reference to Elam (Cuneiform; NIM) appear also in this period in Sumerian records. Susa enters recorded history in the Early Dynastic period of Sumer. A battle between Kish and Susa is recorded in 2700 BC, when En-me-barage-si is said to have "made the land of Elam submit".


title: Susa

text: In the Sumerian period, Susa was the capital of a state called Susiana (Šušan), which occupied approximately the same territory of modern Khūzestān Province centered on the Karun River. Control of Susiana shifted between Elam, Sumer, and Akkad.


title: Susa

text: During the Elamite monarchy, many riches and materials were brought to Susa from the plundering of other cities. This was mainly due to the fact of Susa's location on Iran's South Eastern region, closer to the city of Babylon and cities in Mesopotamia.


title: Susa

text: The use of the Elamite language as an administrative language was first attested in texts of ancient Ansan, Tall-e Mal-yan, dated 1000 BC. Previous to the era of Elamites, the Akkadian language was responsible for most or all of the text used in ancient documents. Susiana was incorporated by Sargon the Great into his Akkadian Empire in approximately 2330 BC.


title: Susa

text: The Old Elamite period began around 2700 BC. Historical records mention the conquest of Elam by Enmebaragesi, the Sumerian king of Kish in Mesopotamia. Three dynasties ruled during this period. Twelve kings of each of the first two dynasties, those of Awan (or "Avan"; c. 2400–2100 BC) and Simashki (c. 2100–1970 BC), are known from a list from Susa dating to the Old Babylonian period. Two Elamite dynasties said to have exercised brief control over parts of Sumer in very early times include Awan and Hamazi; and likewise, several of the stronger Sumerian rulers, such as Eannatum of Lagash and Lugal-anne-mundu of Adab, are recorded as temporarily dominating Elam.


title: Susa

text: Susa was the capital of an Akkadian province until ca. 2100 BC, when its governor, Kutik-Inshushinak, rebelled and made it an independent state and a literary center. Also, he was the last from the Awan dynasty according to the Susa kinglist. He unified the neighbouring territories and became the king of Elam. He encouraged the use of the Linear Elamite script, that remains undeciphered.


title: Susa

text: The city was subsequently conquered by the neo-Sumerian Third Dynasty of Ur and held until Ur finally collapsed at the hands of the Elamites under Kindattu in ca. 2004 BC. At this time, Susa was ruled by Elam again and became its capital under the Shimashki dynasty.


title: Susa

text: Numerous artifacts of Indus Valley civilization origin have been found in Susa from this period, especially seals and etched carnelian beads, pointing to Indus-Mesopotamia relations during this period.


title: Susa

text: Around 1500 BC, the Middle Elamite period began with the rise of the Anshanite dynasties. Their rule was characterized by an "Elamisation" of Susa, and the kings took the title "king of Anshan and Susa". While, previously, the Akkadian language was frequently used in inscriptions, the succeeding kings, such as the Igihalkid dynasty of c. 1400 BC, tried to use Elamite. Thus, Elamite language and culture grew in importance in Susiana.


title: Susa

text: This was also the period when the Elamite pantheon was being imposed in Susiana. This policy reached its height with the construction of the political and religious complex at Chogha Zanbil, south-east of Susa.


title: Susa

text: In ca. 1175 BC, the Elamites under Shutruk-Nahhunte plundered the original stele bearing the "Code of Hammurabi" and took it to Susa. Archeologists found it in 1901. Nebuchadnezzar I of the Babylonian empire plundered Susa around fifty years later.


title: Susa

text: In 647 BC, Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal leveled the city during a war in which the people of Susa participated on the other side. A tablet unearthed in 1854 by Austen Henry Layard in Nineveh reveals Ashurbanipal as an "avenger", seeking retribution for the humiliations that the Elamites had inflicted on the Mesopotamians over the centuries:


title: Susa

text: "Susa, the great holy city, abode of their gods, seat of their mysteries, I conquered. I entered its palaces, I opened their treasuries where silver and gold, goods and wealth were amassed. . . .I destroyed the ziggurat of Susa. I smashed its shining copper horns. I reduced the temples of Elam to naught; their gods and goddesses I scattered to the winds. The tombs of their ancient and recent kings I devastated, I exposed to the sun, and I carried away their bones toward the land of Ashur. I devastated the provinces of Elam and, on their lands, I sowed salt."


title: Susa

text: Susa underwent a major political and ethnocultural transition when it became part of the Persian Achaemenid empire between 540 and 539 BC when it was captured by Cyrus the Great during his conquest of Elam (Susiana), of which Susa was the capital. The Nabonidus Chronicle records that, prior to the battle(s), Nabonidus had ordered cult statues from outlying Babylonian cities to be brought into the capital, suggesting that the conflict over Susa had begun possibly in the winter of 540 BC.


title: Susa

text: It is probable that Cyrus negotiated with the Babylonian generals to obtain a compromise on their part and therefore avoid an armed confrontation. Nabonidus was staying in the city at the time and soon fled to the capital, Babylon, which he had not visited in years.


title: Susa

text: Cyrus' conquest of Susa and the rest of Babylonia commenced a fundamental shift, bringing Susa under Persian control for the first time. Strabo stated that Cyrus made Susa an imperial capital though there was no new construction in that period so this is in dispute.


title: Susa

text: Under Cyrus' son Cambyses II, Susa became a center of political power as one of four capitals of the Achaemenid Persian empire, while reducing the significance of Pasargadae as the capital of Persis. Following Cambyses' brief rule, Darius the Great began a major building program in Susa and Persepolis,which included building a large palace. During this time he describes his new capital in an inscription:


title: Susa

text: "This palace which I built at Susa, from afar its ornamentation was brought. Downward the earth was dug, until I reached rock in the earth. When the excavation had been made, then rubble was packed down, some 40 cubits in depth, another part 20 cubits in depth. On that rubble the palace was constructed."


title: Susa

text: The city forms the setting of "The Persians" (472 BC), an Athenian tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus that is the oldest surviving play in the history of theatre.


title: Susa

text: Events mentioned in the Old Testament book of Esther are said to have occurred in Susa during the Achaemenid period.


title: Susa

text: Susa lost much of its importance after the invasion of Alexander the Great of Macedon in 331 BC. In 324 BC he met Nearchus here, who explored the Persian Gulf as he returned from the Indus River by sea. In that same year Alexander celebrated in Susa with a mass wedding between the Persians and Macedonians.


title: Susa

text: The city retained its importance under the Seleucids for approximately one century after Alexander, however Susa lost its position of imperial capital to Seleucia on the Tigris to become the regional capital of the satrapy of Susiana. Nevertheless, Susa retained its economic importance to the empire with its vast assortment of merchants conducting trade in Susa, using Charax Spasinou as its port.


title: Susa

text: Seleucus I Nicator minted coins there in substantial quantities. Susa is rich in Greek inscriptions, perhaps indicating a significant number of Greeks living in the city. Especially in the royal city large, well-equipped peristyle houses have been excavated.


title: Susa

text: Around 147 BC Susa and the adjacent Elymais broke free from the Seleucid Empire. The city was at least temporarily ruled by the rulers of the Elymais with Kamnaskires II Nikephoros minting coins there. The city may again have briefly returned to Seleucid rule, but starting with Phraates II (about 138–127 BC) to Gotarzes II (about 40–51 AD) almost all rulers of the Parthian Empire coined coins in the city, indicating that it was firmly in the hands of the Parthians at least during this period. The city however retained a considerable amount of independence and retained its Greek city-state organization well into the ensuing Parthian period. From second half of the first century it was probably partly governed by rulers of Elymais again, but it became Parthian once again in 215.


title: Susa

text: Susa was a frequent place of refuge for Parthian and later, the Persian Sassanid kings, as the Romans sacked Ctesiphon five different times between 116 and 297 AD. Susa was briefly captured in 116 AD by the Roman emperor Trajan during the course of his Parthian campaign. Never again would the Roman Empire advance so far to the east.


title: Susa

text: Suzan was conquered and destroyed in 224 AD by the Sassanid Ardashir I, but rebuilt immediately thereafter, and perhaps even temporarily a royal residence. According to a later tradition, Shapur I is said to have spent his twilight years in the city, although this tradition is uncertain and perhaps refers more to Shapur II.


title: Susa

text: Under the Sassanids, following the founding of Gundeshapur Susa slowly lost its importance. Archaeologically, the Sassanid city is less dense compared to the Parthian period, but there were still significant buildings, with the settlement extending over 400 hectares.


title: Susa

text: Susa was also still very significant economically and a trading center, especially in gold trading. Coins also continued to be minted in the city. The city had a Christian community in a separate district with a Nestorian bishop, whose last representative is attested to in 1265. Archaeologically a stucco panel with the image of a Christian saint has been found.


title: Susa

text: During the reign of Shapur II after Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire in 312, and the identification of Christians as possible collaborators with the enemy Christians living in the Sasanian Empire were persecuted from 339 onwards. Shapur II also imposed a double tax on the Christians during his war campaign against the Romans. Following a rebellion of Christians living in Susa, the king destroyed the city in 339 using 300 elephants. He later had the city rebuilt and resettled with prisoners of war and weavers, which is believed to have been after his victory over the Romans in Amida in 359. The weaver produced silk brocade. He renamed it "Eran-Khwarrah-Shapur" ("Iran's glory [built by] Shapur").


title: Susa

text: During the Muslim conquest of Persia an Arab army invaded Khuzistan under the command of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari. After taking most of the smaller fortified towns the army captured Tustar in 642 before proceeding to besiege Susa. A place of military importance, it also held the tomb of the Jewish prophet Daniel.


title: Susa

text: Two stories are given in the Muslim sources of how the city fell. In the first, a Persian priest proclaimed from the walls that only a "dajjal" was fated to capture the city. A "dajjal" is an Islamic term for an "Al-Masih ad-Dajjal", a false messiah, compatible to the Antichrist in Christianity. In everyday use, it also means "deceiver" or "imposter". Siyah, a Persian general who had defected to Muslim side, claimed that by converting to Islam he had turned his back on Zoroastrianism and was thus a "dajjal". Abu Musa agreed to Siyah's plan. Soon after as the sun came up one morning, the sentries on the walls saw a man in a Persian officer's uniform covered in blood lying on the ground before the main gate. Thinking it he had been left out overnight after a conflict the previous day, they opened the gate and some came out to collect him. As they approached, Siyah jumped up and killed them. Before the other sentries had time to react, Siyah and a small group of Muslim soldiers hidden nearby charged through the open gate. They held the gate open long enough for Muslim reinforcements to arrive and passing through the gate to take the city.


title: Susa

text: In the other story, once again the Muslims were taunted from the city wall that only an "Al-Masih ad-Dajjal" could capture the city, and since there were none in the besieging army then they may as well give up and go home. One of the Muslim commanders was so angry and frustrated at this taunt that he went up to one of the city gates and kicked it. Instantly the chains snapped, the locks broke and it fell open.