I note that this forum is for employers and one fundamental aspect about being an employer is that you may not be involved in the day-to-day operational issues of your organisation, hence the need to have professional employees of integrity. This gives comfort as regards reliability of financial reporting, compliance with laws and regulations, effectiveness and efficiency of operations and safeguarding of assets. These issues which give comfort are encompassed within the framework of corporate governance. BIS Review 129/2007  1  Mr Chairman, in the recent past the world has witnessed a number of corporate failures such as Enron, Worldcom and Parmalat brought about largely by fraud on the part of employees. This has brought the discussion of corporate governance to the fore in finance, industry and business. The behaviour of corporations and the people that run these corporations have come under increased scrutiny by stakeholders and the wider public, not least of all, the financial sector in Zambia following the banking failures which we experienced in the late 90’s. The financial sector thus provides a critical example of the need for integrity and professionalism, and the Bank of Zambia has a keen interest in ensuring that these principles are upheld by players in the financial sector. The Bank of Zambia’s interest stems from its mandate to protect depositor’s interests as well as to ensure financial system stability. As the examples of Enron, Worldcom and Parmalat have shown us, poor corporate governance may lead to corporate failures.

Mr Chairman, The new ACCA qualification is designed to provide accounting knowledge skills and professional values which will deliver finance professionals who are capable of building successful careers across all sectors, whether they are working in the public or private sectors, practising in accounting firms or pursuing a career in business. ACCA has designed a qualification which embeds the global accounting education standards set by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). There is a strong focus on professional values, ethics and governance. These skills are essential as the profession moves towards strengthened codes of conduct, regulation and legislation with an increasing focus on professionalism and ethics in accounting. They will be examined at the highest level in the new ACCA Qualification, and will be a core element of students’ practical experience requirements. Mr Chairman, allow me now to dwell on the main theme of our discussion this evening. Going through the literature one finds it difficult to obtain explicit definitions as regards the concepts of “integrity” and “professionalism”. However, the associated behaviours and characteristics of the two concepts are fairly unproblematic. In this regard, behaviours associated with “integrity” include honesty, sincerity, truthfulness, punctuality, ethics, fairness and justice while professionalism is characterised by expertise, generalised and systematic knowledge, a high degree of self control and governance by a code of ethics. Mr Chairman, the behaviours and characteristics described are virtues which are desirable in finance, industry and business.