Presentation given to the Federation of Accounting Professionals in Thailand during a seminar on the IFAC Statements of Membership Obligations (SMOs). The presentation includes information what the SMOs are, their importance, the November 2012 revisions, and what organizations need to understand and do to apply the SMOs.

Szymon Radziszewicz, IFAC Senior Technical Manager, recently held a seminar with the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) on how the approach to building and strengthening professional accountancy organizations is changing as the global landscape changes. The presentation featured the relevant economic and global changes since the global financial crisis began and how regulation of the accountancy profession has shifted. IFAC’s strategic global position and policies are also detailed.

Attendees at the seminar included top officials of the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission and the Board of Accountancy and representatives of the top firms, the small- and medium-sized practices community, and the Philippine government.

Presentation given by Vincent Tophoff, IFAC senior technical manager, during the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan's CFO Conference 2013, CFO: Meeting Future Challenges! In his presentation, Mr. Tophoff discusses current trends and thinking in risk management and best practices.

The 2014 World Congress of Accountants (WCOA) was held November 10-13 in Rome, Italy, hosted by the Consiglio Nazionale dei Dottori Commercialisti e degli Esperti Contabili (CNDCEC). Find complete information on the Congress site: www.wcoa2014rome.com.

Speeches and Presentations:

• November 10, Gerardo Longobardi, Consiglio Nazionale dei Dottori Commercialisti e degli Esperti Contabili President, Opening Remarks to WCOA
• November 10, Vincenzo La Via, Director General of the Italian Treasury, Opening Remarks to WCOA
• November 10, Warren Allen, Immediate Past IFAC President, Opening Remarks to WCOA
• November 10, Chidi Onyeukwu Ajaegbu, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria President, Opening Remarks to WCOA
• November 13, Ivan Scalfarotto, Undersecratary for Constitutional Affairs and Relations with the Parliament, Closing Remarks to WCOA
• November 13, Ndung'u Gathinji, 2014 Robert Sempier Award Recipient, Acceptance Speech at WCOA
• November 13, Olivia Kirtley, IFAC President, Closing Remarks to WCOA
• November 14, Olivia Kirtley, IFAC President, Remarks to Pope Francis
• November 14, Pope Francis, Address to WCOA Special Papal Audience

This strategy and work plan sets out the vision, strategic direction and corresponding work plan of the International Federation of Accountants’ (IFAC) Professional Accountancy Organization Development Committee for the period 2011-2014. This vision exists within the context of the current and anticipated environment in addition to the perceived needs of Professional Accountancy Organizations (PAOs) in emerging and developing countries and their country contexts.

During the May 2012 Professional Accountancy Organization (PAO) Development Committee meeting held in Tunis, Tunisia, discussions were held on the success factors, opportunities, and challenges relevant to the accountancy profession in Africa. Key points have been summarized and refined into the following informal high-level guidance, which may be particularly informative and insightful to those individuals and organizations working to establish, strengthen, and/or further develop PAOs throughout Africa.

During IFAC's 35^th Council Meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, in November 2012, IFAC held its annual seminar, A Fundamental Shift in Corporate Reporting. The seminar featured a keynote address by Prof. Mervyn King SC, chair of the International Integrated Reporting Council and chair of the King Committee on Corporate Governance in South Africa, which has published the King I, King II, and King III Reports on Corporate Governance.

This year’s seminar focused on drawing upon the experiences and perspectives of integrated reporting in practical terms—the South African experience, how to implement integrated reporting, and how to address the challenges and opportunities for small- and medium-sized entities and accountancy practices.

IFAC, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Global Public Policy Committee (GPPC), with the support of the Inter-American Accounting Association, recently convened the sixth annual Contabilidad y Responsabilidad para el Crecimiento Económico Regional (Conference for Accounting and Accountability for Regional Economic Growth, or CReCER) in Managua, Nicaragua, hosted and organized by the Colegio de Contadores Públicos de Nicaragua (CCPN).

CReCER is comprised of a number of plenary and panel sessions, allowing leaders and representatives to exchange ideas, hear about country and sector case studies and experiences, and lay the groundwork for continued growth and development. The three-day conference featured leaders in the accountancy profession and senior global representatives with responsibilities for regulation and public financial management. Attendance was high—more than 600 attendees, 80 speakers, and participation by representatives from more than 30 countries from the region and beyond.

At the heart of CReCER is fostering economic development in the Latin America and Caribbean region through high-quality financial reporting and public sector financial management. CReCER 2012 focused on:

• lessons learned from country adoption of international standards, including the International Standards on Auditing, International Financial Reporting Standards for Small- and Medium-Sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs), and International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs), and the role of supreme audit institutions;
• ways to further support the role of small- and medium-sized practices and the needs of SMEs, and the role and strategic objective of professional accountancy organizations (PAOs) and the Grupo Latino-Americano d Normatizadores Contábeis (Group of Latin American Accounting Standard Setters, or GLASS).

In November 2012, IFAC welcomed two new member organizations, six new associates, and one Recognized Regional Organization and conducted brief interviews with the leadership of the organizations on some of their priorities and initiatives.

On October 16, 2012, the second steering committee meeting for the IFAC-Donor Community MOSAIC (Memorandum of Understanding to Strengthen Accountancy and Improve Collaboration) was held in London, UK, hosted by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.

A key focus for discussion was the draft Professional Accountancy Organization Global Development Report (GDR). This draft report, co-financed by the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and the World Bank, aims to provide a) a high-level report regarding the status of professional accountancy organization (PAO) development worldwide; b) a shared and mutual understanding of the development of these organizations; and c) direction to MOSAIC’s goal of increasing PAO capacity to improve the quality of public and private sector accounting and financial management and ultimately enhance economic growth and reduce poverty.

The content and completion of the draft GDR represents a collective effort on the part of MOSAIC signatories, observers, and key stakeholders and has allowed for a variety of perspectives on the subject of global PAO development. The draft GDR is available for comment online.

Any comments should be sent to the interim MOSAIC Secretariat by December 10, 2012.