New Lessons Need to be Learned From the Financial Crisis, Says ACCA

Don't Forget About Causes of Crisis When Talking About Cuts, Warns Global Accountancy Body

LONDON, April 4, 2011 - ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) today publishes
a collection of essays from experts in the public and private sectors
assessing the role of ethical corporate behaviour in risk management and
governance.

The paper, Risk & Reward: Shared Perspectives (
www.accaglobal.com/pubs/general/activities/library/governance/cg_
pubs/tech-afb-rarsp2.pdf), features contributions that address how
value-based principles can be applied and how they may impact on business
performance and the interests of stakeholders.

"In the aftermath of the financial crisis, we have seen a huge focus on
structural matters, most obviously the regulation of the banking sector",
says report editor John Davies, ACCA's head of technical. "But however
business activity is regulated, decisions will always, ultimately, be taken
by individuals. As we have seen, this is where the regulatory process can
collapse."

"In the context of trying to ensure that material risks are better
identified and managed than they have been in the past, this dimension of
behavioural risk needs to be recognised as being crucial to the process of
risk management, as well as to the wider framework of good governance. The
paper aims to stimulate debate in that area."

The paper includes eleven contributions from ACCA, PwC, the Audit
Commission, the European Commission, FairPensions and others.

Under discussion are questions about how ethical performance can be
measured, how ethical risks can be identified and managed, and the importance
of ethical leadership from the top. The paper also points to the need for
entities in both the public and the private sectors to operate with a clear
sense of values.

"The issue of ethical leadership from the top is a common theme in Shared
Perspectives," adds John Davies. "Guidance, standards, and supervision may be
put in place to regulate what businesses do, but really whether or not they
operate in a way that is in tune with the long-term interests of a business
and their stakeholders is down to the behaviour of an entity's lead actors."

Shared Perspectives is a follow up to 2010's Risk & Reward: Tempering the
Pursuit of Profit (
www.accaglobal.com/general/activities/library/governance/cg_pubs),
which explored corporate planning and accountability and the risks that
businesses need to identify and manage.

Copies of both reports can be found on ACCA's website:

www.accaglobal.com/pubs/general/activities/library/governance/
cg_pubs/tech-afb-rarsp2.pdf

(Due to the length of these URLs, it may be necessary to copy and paste
the hyperlinks into your Internet browser's URL address field. Remove the
space if one exists.)

Notes to Editors

1) ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified
Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants. We aim
to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of
application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a
rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.

2) We support our 140,000 members and 404,000 students in 170
countries, helping them to develop successful careers in accounting
and business, with the skills required by employers. We work through
a network of over 80 offices and centres and more than 8,000 Approved
Employers worldwide, who provide high standards of employee learning
and development. Through our public interest remit, we promote
appropriate regulation of accounting and conduct relevant research to
ensure accountancy continues to grow in reputation and influence.

3) Founded in 1904, ACCA has consistently held unique core
values: opportunity, diversity, innovation, integrity and
accountability. We believe that accountants bring value to economies
in all stages of development and seek to develop capacity in the
profession and encourage the adoption of global standards. Our values
are aligned to the needs of employers in all sectors and we ensure
that through our qualifications, we prepare accountants for business.
We seek to open up the profession to people of all backgrounds and
remove artificial barriers, innovating our qualifications and
delivery to meet the diverse needs of trainee professionals and their
employers.

    For further information, please contact:
    Laura Strong, ACCA Newsroom
    +44(0)20-7462-8921
    lstrong@ruderfinn.co.uk

For further information, please contact: Laura Strong, ACCA Newsroom, +44(0)20-7462-8921, lstrong at ruderfinn.co.uk