There will be major changes in the chartered accountancy course offered by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) which will impact would-be chartered accountants globally.
Making the announcement, CA Aniket Talati, the Vice President of the ICAI said that besides changes in number of exams, there will be a move to facilitate more self-study and also enable articleship to be undertaken with CA firms anywhere in the world instead of just India. This opens the doors for Bahraini and other foreign nationals to now take up the course which they could not do earlier.
CA (Dr.) Debashis Mitra, the ICAI President and CA Aniket Talati were among the key speakers on the concluding day of the BCICAI’s annual conference.
Other important topics covered were the growth of digital remittances and cybersecurity concerns. Roberto Mancone, the CEO of Beyon Money, Bahrain’s leading fintech app, said that digital remittances are growing globally in usage and acceptance but legacy money changers in the GCC have not effectively tapped the trend and are losing ground, said. He said that remittances have overtaken FDI, private capital flows and aid as most significant inflow of capital to emerging economies, helping to boost countries’ balance of payments. They are especially effective in crisis situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukrain conflict or natural disasters when they help families back home to supplement government cash transfer programmes.
Mancone said that the future of digital banking would be shaped by the millennial tech-savvy generation.
“They will ask for something that doesn’t already exist and we need to create that kind of demand,” he said, “Payment methods will evolve to embrace stable coins, central banks, digital currency etc. and the Bahrain market, because of the combination of strong regulation and freedom to innovate, holds plenty of opportunity.”
On a related subject, Nishith Saxena, Director, IT Advisory at Grant Thornton, said that Bahrain had one of the most proactive cybersecurity and privacy regulatory frameworks but that most people on a personal level were still lax about ensuring that they set up the proper security frameworks for their devices.
The CBB has done a fantastic job of setting up the National Cybersecurity Framework and also revising and enhancing the rulebook this October. The expert said the ever-present danger from cyber threats has been amplified as companies accelerate digitisation, shifting their business to hybrid model, and move quicker than before to enhance efficiency and to stay relevant.
“Bahrain is a forerunner in implementing the Personal Data Protection Law in 2019 which offers privacy to your data – but the last-mile integrity rests with users across the spectrum – corporate or individual – and how effectively they implement the protection that Bahraini laws give them.” Mr. Saxena said.
The event concluded with a motivational talk by noted TV star and dancer Sudha Chandran.
Key support for the conference came from Beyon Money, Oracle Corp., TIW Capital Group, Protiviti, Grant Thornton, KPMG Fakhro, Al Hilal Life and PWC Bahrain.
“We have had an action-packed two days and the response from delegates has been terrific,” said BCICAI Chairperson CA Sharmila Shet, “We have been able to listen and talk about new ideas impacting the work of chartered accountants and prepare for future changes with expert inputs.”