Institute of Company Secretaries of India

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) is constituted under a 1980 Act of Parliament, the Company Secretaries Act (Act No. 56 of 1980). ICSI is the only recognized professional body in India to develop and regulate the profession of Company Secretaries in India. The Institute of Company Secretaries of India awards the certificate bestowing the designation of Company Secretary (CS) to a candidate qualifying for the membership of the Institute. It was in 1960 that the Company Law Board started a course in Company Secretaryship leading to the award of Government Diploma in Company Secretaryship. As the number of students taking up the Company Secretaryship course grew, the Government promoted on 4th October, 1968, Institute of Company Secretaries of India under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 for taking over from the Government the conduct of Company Secretaryship examination. The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has since been converted into a statutory body w.e.f. 1.1.1981 under the Company Secretaries Act, 1980. ICSI has on its rolls 21,042 members including 3,523 members holding certificate of the practice. The number of current students is over 1,50,000.

ICSI has its headquarters at New Delhi and four regional offices at New Delhi, Chennai, kolkata and Mumbai.

Membership of ICSI has been recognized for appointment to various superior posts and services under the Central Government. The affairs of the ICSI are managed by a Council consisting of fifteen elected members and five nominees of the Central Government. Pursuant to section 383A of the Companies Act, 1956, companies having a paid-up share capital of Rs 5 crore or more, as prescribed by the Central Government, are statutorily required to appoint a whole-time Company Secretary.

The major contribution of Company Secretary (CS) is in corporate sector. Company Secretary (CS) is an important professional aiding the efficient management of the corporate sector. Company Secretary (CS) is designated as an officer under the Companies Act. Company Secretary (CS) has to interact, coordinate, integrate and cooperate with various other functional heads in a company. A member of the ICSI may also practise independently as a professional after obtaining a certificate of practice as provided in the Company Secretaries Act, 1980.

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) is the organisation for the regulation and continuing professional development of company secretaries in India. A Company Secretary is the backbone of a company overseeing the compliance status on a continuing manner. ICSI conducts examinations for acquiring membership in the institute. Membership is primarily Associate and then Fellow. As per the proviso to Section 383 A of the Companies Act, 1956, all the companies having a paid up capital of Rs. 200 M is mandatorily required to appoint a full-time Company Secretary. Those companies having a paid capital greater than Rs. 10 M and less than Rs. 200 M are requried to procure Compliance Certificate from a Practising Company Secretary which has to be annexed to the Directors' Report along with the Annual Accounts. Thus there are two areas in the career viz. in whole time employment and whole time practice.

As per the Companies Act 1956, if the company is having more than Rs. 5 crore of paid up share capital, it is mandatory to appoint a full time Company Secretary, and if company has a paid up capital of Rs. 10 lakhs and more but less than Rs. 5 crores, it has to file with Registrar of Companies a compliance certificate from a Practising Company Secretary.

Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India

The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) is a statutory professiona body established on May 28, 1959 under the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959 (Act No.23rd of 1959) enacted by the Parliment of India to regulate the profession of Cost Accountants in India.

The ICWAI is a Founder Member of the (IFAC), Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) and South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA). ICWAI is one of the stakeholders in National Foundation of Corporate Governance(NFCG).The headquarters of ICWAI is situated in Kolkata, and operates through its four regional councils located at Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai, 94 chapters in India and 6 chapters abroad.

History

Formed as a limited company in 1944 under the provisions of the then Companies Act 1913. Later it was incorporated under the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959 and was accorded statutory recognition with the objectives of promoting, regulating, and developing the Profession of Cost & Management Accountancy in India.

Objectives

The objectives of ICWAI are to promote and develop the adoption of scientific methods in cost and management accountancy for management control. It develops the professional body of members and equips them fully to discharge their functions as professional Cost & Management Accountants. ICWAI helps its members to keep abreast with latest developments in the field of cost and management accounting.

Proposal of Change of Name of the ICWAI to ICMAI

ICWAI, the apex Body to regulate the Profession of Cost & Management Accountancy in India, urged the Minister for Corporate Affairs, Shri Salman Khurshid, to empower the Institute through their members for more regulatory powers. In a bid to provide more visibility to the Institute and the Profession of Cost & Management Accountancy, ICWAI suggested for acceptance and implementation of some of the recommendations of the Expert Group.The Institute also suggested on a global pattern, change the name of the Institute as Institute of Cost & Management Accountants of India (ICMAI). The Cost and Works Accountants Act Amendment Bill 2010^] has been introduced in the Budget Session of 2010 in the Parliament. This incorporates necessary changes to the nomenclature of the Profession. The Cost & Works Accountants (Amendment ) Bill 2010, which was introduced on 28 April 2010 in Rajya Sabha by Mr. Salman Khurshid, the Honorable Minister of Corporate Affairs, contains inter alia the proposal for name change of the ICWAI to ICMAI and the same is under examination by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance.

Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is a UK-based professional body offering training and qualification in management accountancy and related subjects, focused on accounting for business; together with ongoing support for members.

CIMA is one of a number of professional associates for accountants in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Its particular emphasis is on developing the management accounting profession within the UK and worldwide. CIMA is the largest management accounting body in the world.

CIMA is a member of the consultative Committee of Accountancy Body and the Internationa Fedration of Accountants.

History

CIMA was founded in 1919 as "The ICWA". It specialised in the development of accounting techniques for use in the internal control of manufacturing, service and public sector operations. It developed a position as the leading professional body in the areas of product costing, budgeting, management accounting, investment appraisal and business decision making.

In October 1944 the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants organisation in ireland was formed.

The institute changed its name from ICWA to the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants (ICMA) in 1972 and subsequently to the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in 1986, after the granting of a Royal Charter. A global Accounting qualification based in the UK, which is particularly active in Commonwealth countries. Its membership has grown from 15,000 in 1970 to 79,757 members and 92,909 students in 2009. It has played a role in founding fraternal professional bodies such as theICMAP,ICMAB,ICWAI and the IMA (USA).

Activities

CIMA operates a Masters degree standard scheme of fifteen qualifying examinations for prospective members. It is active in promoting local education, training and management development operations, the promotion of new techniques through its research foundation and the dissemination of management accounting practices through publications and other media related activities. CIMA has been active in recent educational and vocational initiatives in former Eastern bloc countries. It publishes a monthly journal, supplied free to members and registered students, called 'Financial Management' ('Management Accounting' prior to 1998). CIMA also publishes a quarterly journal called 'Management Accounting Research', mainly for an academic readership.

CIMA is recognised as a professional accounting body for various statutory purposes by UK and various overseas governments. The institute regulates the activities of its members by a code of practice, a discipline committee and (a recent innovation) a continuing education scheme.

CIMA's governing body is its council, comprising members elected from regional branches. Each of the branches has a committee and is responsible for much of the 'grass roots' activity. Activity such as qualification development is undertaken from the London head office. The London office is also the location for the annual UK Final of the Global management Challenge, a strategic management competition for university students, which CIMA sponsors.

In July 2009 CIMA added an online community -  CIMAsphere - to its website. The community consists of a range of blogs, discussion boards, groups, community answers, expert Q&A sessions and some social networking features for members, students and also the general audience.

Membership

CIMA has two grades of full membership:

• Associate - designated by the letters ACMA

• Fellow - designated by the letters FCMA

To be admitted as an associate a candidate must have:

• completed a period of qualifying practice of at least three years, documented and signed by appropriate witnesses

• passed the institute's 15 qualifying examinations

• been proposed and seconded for membership by two individuals who have direct experience of the candidate's work experience but who do not need to be members of CIMA or even accountants.

To become a Fellow a candidate ACMA must, in addition, have appropriate experience at a senior level.

In the past, CIMA has offered forms of association which do not amount to full membership, for example an "Affiliate" membership class was promoted in the 1970s.

Chartered Financial Analyst

The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation is an international professional certification offered by the CFA Institute (formerly AIMR) to financial analysts who complete a series of three examinations. To become a CFA Charterholder candidates must pass each of three six-hour exams, possess a bachelor's degree (or equivalent, as assessed by CFA institute) and have 48 months of qualified, professional work experience. CFA charterholders are also obligated to adhere to a strict Code of Ethics and Standards governing their professional conduct.

The CFA designation

The CFA is a qualification for finance and investment professionals, particularly in the fields of  invrestment management and financial analysis of stocks, bonds and their derivative assets. The program focuses on portfolio management and financial analysis, and provides a generalist knowledge of other areas of finance.

The CFA designation was first awarded in 1963. As of August 2010, CFA Institute has more than 101,000 members around the world, including more than 89,000 CFA charterholders.

 History

The predecessor of CFA Institute, the Financial Analysts Federation (FAF), was originally established in 1947 as a service organization for investment professionals in its societies and chapters. In 1990, in hopes of boosting the credential's public profile, CFA Institute (formerly the Association for Investment Management and Research or AIMR) was created from the merger of the FAF and the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts (ICFA). Many Financial Analysts (FA credential) were "grandfathered" into CFA charterholders without taking any of current levels as a result of the 1990 merger between the ICFA and FAF.

The CFA program began in the US but has become increasingly international with many people becoming charterholders across Europe, Asia and Australia. By 2003 fewer than half the candidates in the CFA program were based in the US and Canada, with most of the other candidates based in Asia or Europe. india and China have shown some of the highest growth from 2005-2006 with increases of 25% and 53% respectively in the total number of charterholders.

 Requirements

The basic requirements for participation in the CFA Program include holding or being in the final year of a university degree (or equivalent as assessed by CFA Institute), or having four years of qualified, professional work experience in an investment decision-making process. To obtain the charter, however, a candidate must have completed a university degree (or equivalent) and four years of qualified, professional work experience, in addition to passing the three exams that test the academic portion of the CFA program.

Candidates generally take one exam per year over three years (assuming a pass on the first attempt). Fees as of December 2009 for all three exams range from $710 to $955, depending on the date on which the candidate registers to take the exam, plus an additional $400 to $480 for program enrollment for new members. Exams are challenging, with only 42% passing the Level I, 39% passing Level II, and 46% passing Level III exam in June 2010. In 2006, Europe achieved the highest average pass rate for the Level I, II and III of the exam with an overall success rate of 57% of candidates versus 54% for the USA and 49% in Asia and Pacific.

All three levels have a strong emphasis on ethics. The material differences among the exams are:

• The Level I study program emphasizes tools and inputs, and includes an introduction to asset valuation, financial reporting and analysis, and portfolio management techniques.

• The Level II study program emphasizes asset valuation, and includes applications of the tools and inputs (including economics, financial reporting and analysis, and quantitative methods) in asset valuation.

• The Level III study program emphasizes portfolio management, and includes strategies for applying the tools, inputs, and asset valuation models in managing equity, fixed income, and derivative investments for individuals and institutions.

All three exams are administered on paper on a single day; the Level I exam is administered twice a year (usually the first weekend of June and December). The Level II and III exams are administered once a year, usually the first weekend of June. Each exam consists of two three-hour sessions. Level I is multiple choice - all information required to answer the question is contained in the question. Level II is item set - a vignette followed by selected response questions. To answer each question, the candidate must refer to the vignette as there is insufficient information in the question stem. Level III consists of a session of short-answer questions and a session that is item set. On the multiple-choice/item set sections, there is no penalty for wrong answers.

Candidates who have taken the exam receive a score report that is intended to be fairly unspecific: there is no overall score for the test, only a Pass/Fail result. However, candidates who fail are informed of how well they did compared to other candidates who failed; e.g., top 10% of candidates who failed. For each topic area (e.g., ethics, corporate finance, derivative securities, and so on), each test-taker is given a broad range within which his or her performance falls: below 50%, between 50% and 70%, and above 70%. The passing grade for the exams had been defined as 70% of the top percentage of exam papers until 1989; since then, the grading method is not explicitly published^[3] and the minimum passing score is set by the Board of Governors after each exam. The Board of Governors reviews the results of the standard setting process and input from psychometricians.

Standard setting is a process that defines the passing score of the exam. The CFA exam utilizes the modified Angoff method, which is a commonly-used approach to setting standards for certification and licensure examinations. Subject matter experts review the exam and recommend a minimum passing score for the "just-qualified candidate". The minimum passing scores are presented to the Board of Governors in a report. The Board of Governors is not bound by this recommendation, but does recognize it as very important information.

The Code of Ethics

Members of CFA Institute (including charterholders and candidates for the CFA designation) must:

• Act with integrity, competence, diligence, respect, and in an ethical manner with the public, clients, prospective clients, employers, employees, colleagues in the investment profession, and other participants in the global capital markets.

• Place the integrity of the investment profession and the interests of clients above their own personal interests.

• Use reasonable care and exercise independent professional judgment when conducting investment analysis, making investment recommendations, taking investment actions, and engaging in other professional activities.

• Practice and encourage others to practice in a professional and ethical manner that will reflect credit on ourselves and the profession.

• Promote the integrity of, and uphold the rules governing, capital markets.

• Maintain and improve their professional competence and strive to maintain and improve the competence of other investment professionals

Thanku Balu Sir for providing a brief history of  professional exams...