As we start the New Year we have a new logo for the ACT and a strapline that clearly identifies the role that we see for our members and the organisation in the wider context of treasury, risk and finance. We ended 2006 with the successful launch of the new MCT Advanced Diploma qualification and we moved offices more or less without any mishaps or critical disruption to our activities.
The new logo and branding is intended to make a clear and important statement about the ACT. This goes much further than just a new design and a more consistent look and feel to our materials. The emphasis on the breadth of the interests of our members and on the wide potential for the ACT to contribute professionally is an outcome from the strategic planning process that we have gone through within the organisation. I hope that during 2007 you will see an ACT that recognises the differing backgrounds of our members and ensures that across our qualifications, publishing, events and training we respond appropriately to the range of relevant interests. Our Policy and Technical team have a key part to play in this, whilst they continue to focus primarily on the concerns of the user of financial services when we make submissions to consultation and policy debate.
The MCT Advanced Diploma qualification reflects a new approach to professional learning in its provision of learning materials and tuition support (both online and face to face) and the way in which we undertake assessment. We have had extremely positive feedback from our pilot candidates and are confident that we have created a qualification with an attractive and flexible route to the highest level. We are looking forward to welcoming the first set of MCT candidates under the new structure – if you are interested in joining this group there is still time to meet the enrolment deadline of 31 January.
We start 2007 with an extensive programme of events and training. This includes the second of our international talkingtreasury conferences – the next one is on 16 January in Amsterdam; and we have the ACT Winter Paper on 30 January. I must of course also mention that The Treasurers’ Conference runs from 2 – 4 May at the EICC in Edinburgh. We have an excellent programme and I encourage you to join us in May. Full details are on: http://www.treasurersconference.com
If we look back on 2006 in terms of the work of the Policy and Technical team at the ACT, I believe it is particularly noteworthy that we saw a significant change in the behaviour of the rating agencies. This can be directly linked to the work that we did, together with the treasury associations in France and the US, to encourage and draft a Code of Conduct for adoption by the agencies. Our work was largely reflected in the eventual code prepared by the international grouping of securities regulators, IOSCO.
A key feature of what we had argued for was that agencies should be more open about their methodologies and any changes to their approach. In the last few months we have seen significant evidence of improved transparency, shown by the large number of consultations on methodology changes that the agencies have launched. The ACT team has of course responded on all of these.
A number of our members and colleagues have already visited our new offices in Moorgate. Our meeting rooms are available for member use so do please check availability if you are in the area.
