Major conference on avoiding corporate failure

The event, on 21st & 22nd December 2003, is being organized by the Bahrain Accountants Association (BAA) and International Centre Bahrain (ICB), under the patronage of HE Shaikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Governor of the Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA).

Conference discussions will focus on such critical issues as global regulatory and government policy, lessons learned from global failures, the role of banks and transparency in avoiding failures, preventive measures that could be taken as well as the responsibilities of accountants and auditors, said Mr. Waleed Abdulla Rashdan, BAA Director and Chairman of the Organising Committee.

The objective is to enhance understanding of why corporates fail and what steps can be taken by the board and management of a company to avoid such failures, said Mr. Jamal Fakhroo, Chairman, BAA.

Leading speakers will include Charles Kvinta of Deloitte & Touche, who will examine the highly debatable issue of recent corporate failures.

"As the seemingly invincible corporate empires of the West, like Enron and WorldCom, have come tumbling ignominiously down, the questions that are being asked are: what caused these debacles and what else is in the offing," says Mr. Kvinta.

"Some blame 'creative accounting', yet others believe that corporate governance, or the lack thereof, was the root cause of these failures."

Mr Kvinta's presentation, during a panel discussion, will also focus on the recent rules issued by the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the plethora of rules that are being promulgated around the globe, to counter 'corporate malfeasance'.

Other panelists in the discussion include Mrs. Elham Hassan from PricewaterhouseCoopers; Mr. Mohammed Tariq Sadiq from Ernst & Young; Mr. Douglas Tait from KPMG and Mr. Abbas Radhi from BDO Jawad Habib.

Delegates will also have an opportunity to hear Bahraini expert on strategic investment, mergers & acquisitions and financial restructuring, Dr Ahmed Al Jawahary, from International Investment Bank (IIB).

Dr Al Jawahary will examine the "culture" of failure within some investment banks and multinational enterprises, with a focus on the market and institutional causes of failure, the decision-maker's effect, strategy and vision related mistakes and prerequisites to success.

Other leading speakers at the event include Professor Paul Dembinski from the University of Fribourg in Geneva; Mr. Anthony Travis from PricewaterhouseCoopers; Tony Thompson from KPMG and many others from the region and elsewhere.

Mr. James Hogan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Air, will make a presentation on a 'Recipe for Success'.

A panel discussion on 'Dealing with Corporate Failures' will feature Mr. John Holmes from Clifford Chance; Mr. Khalid Shaheen from Bahraini Saudi Bank and Mr. Ahmed El-Shall from Dubai Islamic Bank, while another session on 'Global Regulatory and Government Policy' will feature Mr. Ashley Freeman from the BMA; Mr. Hameed Rahma from the Ministry of Commerce and Patrick Watson-Thorp from Norton Rose.

The conference is sponsored by the BMA, Arab Banking Corporation (ABC) and Bahrain Credit.

It opens at 9am at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.