PRESIDENT BLOG - Brendan Murtagh

A word of congratulations...

I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate three outstanding ACCA members Olive Gardiner, Professor Robert Gray and Deane Morrice, who have been awarded MBEs in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Olive Gardiner, who spent 15 years as a lecturer at the Adam Smith College, Fife, Scotland, and is now an independent tuition provider who often hosts tutorials at her own home, was given the award for recognition of her services to the accountancy profession.

Professor Gray is director of the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research at St Andrew's University in Scotland, where he lectures on introductory accounting, research methods, social and environmental accounting, social responsibility and sustainable development. He has written more than 250 books and articles and has also been recognised for his contribution to the accountancy profession.

Deane Morrice, based in Northern Ireland, has been awarded an MBE in recognition of his services to local government, and in particular the work he has undertaken for the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers' Superannuation Committee.

I know they have made a massive contribution to our profession and to the wider business community, and I'm delighted that they have been recognised.

The way forward for non-executive directors

Why are non-executive directors taken by surprise when events take a turn for the worse? 

A common feature of recent corporate governance debacles has been that boards – and especially the non-executive directors (NEDs) – have been unaware of unfolding events.

This may be because they have not received all the information they needed from management – but there is also an underlying concern that a great many NEDs are not properly trained or able to commit enough time to fulfil their important roles properly.

In ACCA’s response to the UK’s Financial Reporting Council’s Review of the Effectiveness of the Combined Code, which sets out standards for corporate governance, we call for more robust regulation to strengthen the position of NEDs, and to ensure that shareholders can rely on them to challenge boards and hold them to account more effectively.

This is not just an issue for the UK, but a global challenge, and I’d welcome your thoughts on this issue.