Baker Tilly Celebrates Teamwork Achievement 2016

Living Our Mission

As teamwork is one of the KPIs achieved by the end of 2016, Baker Tilly celebrates the team work achievement during 2016 as it managed to carry out its mission through the dedicated work of its members. The 50+ plus employees of Baker Tilly work in a harmony as a team. In their different positions, they all contribute to Baker Tilly’s mission and visions with dedication, loyalty and respect.

Baker Tilly always believe in creating a harmonious work environment which balances both, work and play. This helps not only in business growth but also in a healthy work environment.

Latest amendments to the Executive Bylaw of the Capital MarketAuthority Law On 4 May 2017, the CMA issued the Resolution No. 64 of2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]On 4 May 2017, the Capital Market Authority ("CMA") issued the Resolution No. 64 of 2017 pertaining to amending the Executive Bylaw of the CMA Law which comes into effect as of the date of its issuance. Some amendments have been made to the Module Three (Enforcement of the Law), the Module Eight (Code of Business Conduct) and the Module Fourteenth (Market Conduct).

The amendment made to the Module Eight referred to above is the issuance of a new Addendum to the said Module concerning "the Standards for Record Keeping Systems". Under this amendment, the persons licensed to carry out any of the following securities activities (investment portfolio manager - securities broker registered on the stock exchange - securities broker not listed on the stock exchange - qualified securities broker registered on the stock exchange – custodian) shall make a reconciliation and comply with the technical requirements mentioned in the said Addendum, including developing policies and procedures manual for Record Keeping Systems and to provide the CMA with the same no later than 1 June 2018, while observing complying with all the provisions of the Module Eight of the Executive Bylaw.

The technical requirements stated in this Addendum are pertaining to the means of receiving and retaining the customers' orders, including (telephone conversations - electronic correspondences - electronic trading - direct orders within the authorized person's premises - written orders) and their consequent obligations and requirements, in addition to some other general requirements.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Do Internal Auditors and Doctors Have Something in Common?

“I would like to welcome you to my first blog post with Baker Tilly and I hope that the minutes you will spend reading it will add value to you.

Like many business and management theorists, I believe that business entities are similar to living organisms when it comes to their life cycles. They are born, they grow and develop, they get sick, they reach maturity, they begin to decline and age, and finally, in many cases, they die.

Now, what would a prudent person do when he feels sick? Indeed, any prudent person would not wait it out and hope he will get better on his own. Instead, he will visit a doctor to find out what is wrong.

Ok, so does this mean that the only time to visit a doctor is when you feel sick? Definitely not, it is important to visit your doctor regularly to get preventive care. Preventive care lets your doctor find potential health problems before you get sick.

Likewise, with business entities being vulnerable to countless risks, they should consider having specialists who have adequate knowledge, skills and abilities to assist them dealing with risks in a prudent and reasonable manner.

Who are the internal auditors?

They are the specialists who schedule periodic check-ups to examine the healthiness of nearly all processes within the business entity. They are the ones who provide advice and insight on how to improve these processes.

In simple terms, they are the doctors of business entities.

Hold on, doctors also get sick!

Well, that is true. That is why internal auditors are required to have ongoing and periodic quality assurance programs as mandated by the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (Standards) issued by the Institute of Internal Auditors.

Bottom line, I believe that the value derived from equipping business entities with strong and well-resourced internal audit functions cannot be compromised.”

References:

Haire, M. (1959). Modern organization theory. John Wiley.

Bahij Elkhatib

Bahij N. Elkhatib, CIA, CMA, CIDA, is assuming the role of Internal Audit & GRC Manager with Baker Tilly Kuwait. He has considerable experience in providing Internal Audit & GRC services to clients in different industries.