number 294 ‘strategic public private partnership is way ... standards and practices in corporate...

Monthly News Briefing from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh

ICABICAB NEWS BULLETINApril 2014

Number 294

ISSN 1993-5366

n response to the ‘call for action’ to strengthen public sector accounting and auditing, a strategic Public Private Partnership can help

realising that objective.

Showkat Hossain FCA, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh said this at the dissemination workshop of Bank’s Policy Note titled “Public Private Partnership for Improved Public Sector Auditing in Bangladesh” organized by The World Bank, Dhaka organized on Tuesday, April 29, 2014 at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, Dhaka.

Masud Ahmed, Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh graced the program as the Chief Guest, while Showkat Hossain, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh attended the program as the Special Guest.

Showkat Hossain said that the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) has been working as the Consulting Body under this project aiming at a strategic and technical partnership between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (OCAG).

He further said that ICAB has already gained experience being partners in learning partnership with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) under the World Bank supported Twining Project. He expects that continuous support of the World Bank in Strengthening Accounting and Auditing Standards and Practices in Corporate Sector in Bangladesh will boost capacity building of ICAB.

Mr. Showkat recalled the Policy Note Presentation of the project held on 07 November 2012 where National Audit Office of UK, ICAEW, DFID and specially the OCAG- Bangladesh participated and extended their support and guidance to frame out a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was signed between ICAB and OCAG on the same day.

He said, actually out of longing for robust mechanism to ensure transparency and accountability in financial management for achieving the economic success, the Project launched with many more challenges addressing the accounting and auditing practices for Improving Audit Assurance Quality in Public and Private Sectors.

I

Strategic Public Private... Management

CRC Holds CPD Seminar on 'IAS-1:.. Statements'

ICAB Organizes Anti- money... Workshop

Training on ‘Public Sector... Management’ held

Pahela Boishakh observed

President’s Communica-tion April 2014

Workshop on "The Art of Leadership" held

CRC Holds CPD Seminar on 'Salient... Issues'

Forkan Uddin appeared at live... Capital Market

ICAB President Attends Session...Curriculum

Justin West and Jonathon Students’ Seminar... ICAB

Meeting with ICMAB Delegates

UPGP & LGSP-II organize training for... Audit

Farewell Program in Honour of... Secretary

Campus News

Obituary

A Milad and Doa Mahfil for Late ICAB Members

David Brookfield Attends...Meeting

BCACP Ad-hoc Committee Meet ICAB President

WTO Team visits ICAB

World Bank Delegates Visit ICAB

Jonathon Worrell attends... Meeting

Meeting with DRC Delegates

ICAB Submits Proposals on... Budget 2014-’15

A K M Rahmat Ullah Joins as Secretary of ICAB

‘Strategic Public Private Partnership is Way forward to strengthen public

Sector Financial Management’Showkat Hossain says at World Bank’s Workshop

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April 2014 No. 294

he Chittagong Regional Committee (CRC) of ICAB organized a CPD Seminar on 'IAS-1: Presentation of

Financial Statements' on Saturday, 26 April 2014 at the Conference Hall of ICAB-CRC office, Chittagong.

Alihussain Akberali FCA, Chairman, BSRM Steels Limited graced the occasion as Chief Guest and Haradan Dey FCA, Partner MRH Dey & Co., Chartered Accountants was Session Chairman. Md. Shaifur Rahman Mazumdar FCMA, FCA, Past Chairman, ICAB-CRC presented the valuable Key-note paper in the seminar.

Information about the reporting entity is useful to existing and potential investors,

lenders, regulators and other users. Financial reporting can be made on different bases, assumptions and judgments. The ultimate objective of this standard is to ensure harmonization in reporting and also to ensure comparability in different years and entities so that the users can get true, fair and unbiased information for their economic decisions. IAS-1 gives guidelines

on structure, contents, styles, policies, disclosures regarding preparation and presentation of financial statements.

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CRC Holds CPD Seminar on 'IAS-1: Presentation of Financial Statements'

About limitations of ICAB towards strengthening Public Private Partnership, ICAB president said that in Bangladesh the Supreme Audit Institution –the OCAG is doing the job with many impediments both internally and externally with limited capacity and resources. And, on the other hand, one of the key constraints facing by the ICAB professionals is perceived to their limited exposure to public financial management.

Ms. Suraiya Zannath, Sr. Financial Management Specialist, the World Bank presented the key note paper. Johannes Zutt, Country Director, The World Bank, Dhaka delivered introductory speech. Anwaruddin Chowdhury FCA and Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General Dr. Shyamal Kanti Chowdhury placed their valuable and visionary comments on the keynote. Fily Sissoko, Manager, South Asia Regional Financial Management, The World Bank made concluding remarks.

To overcome the challenges, he said that the Public Private Partnership is the way forward to ensure a greater impact in the Audit and Assurance Quality. ICAB is equally keen to exchange its views and share its knowledge with OCAG as an ongoing basis.

Apart from the policy note presentation and signing of the MoU with OCAG, ICAB has already accomplished many components of the Project such as:

Shared the Sri Lankan experience on Public Private Partnership as well as shared views and knowledge with the ICAEW specialist on UK experience

through arranging knowledge sharing sessions

Arranged Training Program on Public Sector Regulations (Treasury Rules, Internal Controls, GFRs) and Procurement Rules for ICAB Members

ICAB is striding with the extended times up to June 2014 of the project where external expert consultant and internal resources are working together to draw a very successful accomplishment.

Organized 03 Days Knowledge Sharing Sessions for 04 batches during April 2014 on the Public Financial Management (Treasury Rules, General Financial Rules, Budget etc.) for tomorrows CAs’ and ICAB Members provided by the Academy for planning and Development, Ministry of Planning.

Knowledge Sharing Sessions on the Public Procurement Rules (Advanced level from the Audit Perspective) and on Government Procurement Rules is on the way to arrange for the Practicing Members as well.

Ms. Suraiya Zannath FCA, the Paper Presenter said that there is no uniformity in Auditing of the state owned enterprises and other public sector entities when audited by CAG and the CA Firms. She further said that audited reports of the state owned enterprises and other public sector entities by the CA Firms are not also shared with CAG. In terms of internal audit she said, the policy paper highlighted that it is fragmented and not considered when external audit

conducted by the private CA Firms or others at the behest of the development partners. About assessment of OCAG, she said that there is scarcity of human resources relevant to academic and professional orientation, it is required for further improvement, she said. The audit reports repeatedly pointed out the weaknesses of the internal control of the government but there was little management attention on the particular aspect of the audit reports, she observed. She opined that enhancement engagement of stakeholders is needed in this regards to address the problem. She said, it is necessary for OCAG to build professional partnership with ICAB or other similar organisations.

Masud Ahmed said that there are two sides regarding qualifications of the public accountants and private accountants. He emphasized on concerted efforts by both public & private accountants working to achieve desired results maintaining accounting and auditing.

Johannes Zutt said that public private partnership is very much important in current context. The auditors should have more connection with the accounts and the morality, he further said.

Commenting on the paper, ICAB Past President and Council Member Anwaruddin Chowdhury FCA said that the need for strategy partnership has been felt for very long time. The presentation is a culmination of long and well measured thoughts and process. Public private partnership in accounting aspect will have multi dimensional implications in the years ahead, he said.

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April 2014No. 294

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) arranged a 03-Days Training Course ‘Knowledge Sharing Sessions on the Public Procurement Rules (Advance level from the Audit Perspective) the Public Financial Management (Treasury Rules, General Financial Rules, Budget etc.) for ICAB’s Professionals and Tomorrow’s Chartered Accountants’ who are at least CA KL/P-I/Intermediate level qualified for professional development under the World Bank financed Project titled Promoting Public Private Partnership (PPP) for Improved Audit Quality Assurance.

The training was provided by the National Academy for Planning and Development, Ministry of Planning with a view to enhance the capacity of the professionals at individual as well as at firm’s level attached with the opportunities in Public

Sector like; Consultancy, Audit, Review, Investigations and staff Appointments etc.

The Training Program on Public Financial Management (Treasury Rules, Internal Controls, GFRs) for 41 honorable members and 41 Future Chartered Accountants was arranged by ICAB under this Project. The training conducted in 4 batches contained

25 members in each batch at the National Academy for Planning and Development under Ministry of Planning on 11th - 13th April 2014 and 18th - 20th April, 2014. Total 82 participants participated in the Training and received their Certificates from the President-ICAB and the Director General, National Academy for Planning and Development.

Employees of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) observed Bengali New Year ‘Pahela Boishakh 2021’ on 14 April 2014. ICAB President Showkat Hossain FCA and Council Member & Past President Md. Syful Islam FCA were present amongst the employees of the Institute. Mr. Syful Islam joined with the ICAB President cutting a cake to celebrate the occasion. Mr. Showkat Hossain in his brief speech said that such gatherings foster the cohesiveness and develop the bondage in the work place. Mr. Syful said that such occasion should be observed every year so that employees of this Institute refresh themselves with actual taste and style of our culture.

he institute has organized a workshop on "Anti Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing" on

7 April 2014 for the members of the Institute.

The workshop was inaugurated by the Chief Guest Abu Hena Mohammad Razee Hassan, Deputy Governor, Bangladesh Bank and Showkat Hossain FCA, President, ICAB delivered the welcome address. Syful Islam FCA, Council member & Past President was the Session Chairman.

Resource Persons of the workshop were Debaprosad Debnath, General Manager & Operational Head, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, Bangladesh Bank, and Kamal Hossain, Joint Director, BFIU, Bangladesh Bank, Dhaka

Core topics of the workshop were Overview of AML/CFT & Relevance with Accountants, Money Laundering Prevention Act 2012 & Anti-Terrorism (Amendment, 2013) Act 2009,Compliance

requirement for Accountants on AML/CFT issues.

Mr. Showkat Hossain FCA, President-ICAB awarded certificates to the fifty participants participated in the workshop.

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Training on ‘Public Sector Financial Management’ held

Pahela Boishakh observed

ICAB Organizes Anti-money Laundering Workshop

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April 2014 No. 294

Dear Fellow Members,

Assalamu Alaikum and Greetings to you

all.

Shuvo Nobobarsha 1421 to you all !!

Every year, the Bengali New Year begins

at dawn and the day is marked with

singing, processions, and fairs.

Traditionally, businesses start this day

with a new ledger, clearing out the old.

We celebrate Pohela Boishakh as a day

of cultural unity without distinction

between class, race or religious

affiliations. Pohela Boishakh is really

about celebrating the simpler, rural

roots of the Bangladesh. People can

participate in the festivities together

without the burden of having to reveal

one's class, religion, or financial capacity.

I wish a happy and prosperous new

Bengali year to you all.

I take this opportunity to update you on

some major activities accomplished and

initiatives we have undertaken during

April 2014.

Major Activities in April 2014

ICAB submitted proposals on

National Budget 2014-2015 to NBR

ICAB submitted it's proposals with

comments/justifications regarding VAT

and Income Tax towards National

Budget 2014-15 to National Board of

Revenue (NBR) on 1 April 2014. Taxation

& Corporate Laws Committee (TCLC) of

Council-ICAB finalized ICAB’s Budget

Proposals for NBR. ICAB’s proposals

were made with a view to increase

government revenue, remove

procedural flaws and ensuring social

justice. Proposals cover 58 areas on Tax

Polices and 37 areas on VAT policies of

the government. I hope that all valued

suggestions of ICAB will be considered

for inclusion in the upcoming National

Budget 2014-15.

Workshop on Anti-Money Laundering

ICAB and Bangladesh Bank jointly

organized a Workshop on ‘Anti-Money

Laundering and Terrorist Financing’

for ICAB Members on 7 April 2014 at

ICAB Auditorium, CA Bhaban, Dhaka.

Abu Hena Mohammad Razee Hassan,

Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank

inaugurated the Workshop as the Chief

Guest. In my Address of Welcome I

focused on the compliance

requirements of Professional

Accountants on AML/CFT Issues and

their role specially practicing

Accountants for preventing Money

Laundering in the country. Some

important topics like overview of

AML/CFT & Relevance with Accountants,

Money Laundering Prevention Act 2012

& Anti-Terrorism Act 2009 (Amendment

in 2013) were discussed in the

Workshop. Two Bangladesh Bank

officials i.e., Debaprosad Debnath,

President’sCommunication

April 2014

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April 2014No. 294

General Manager & Operational Head,

Bangladesh Financial Intelligence

Unit(BFIU) and Kamal Hossain, Joint

Director, BFIU conducted the Workshop.

Total 50 ICAB members participated in

this important Workshop and received

certificates from the ICAB President.

Training on Public Sector Financial

Management

ICAB organized a specialized Training on

‘Public Procurement Rules (Advance

Level from the Audit Perspective) and

Public Financial Management

(Treasury Rules, General Financial

Rules, Budget etc.)’ for ICAB Members

and partly qualified Students under the

World Bank financed Project titled

‘Promoting Public Private Partnership

for Improved Quality Audit & Assurance’.

In total 82 participants under 4 batches

attended in the training program held

from 11 to 13 April 2014 and 18 to 20

April 2014 at National Academy for

Planning and Development (NAPD) in

Dhaka. I am confident that this training

will create more awareness and capacity

building among our members & future

CAs and they will encourage to involve

more Public Sector professional works in

near future.

Meetings with ICAEW Representatives

Jonathan Richard Worrell, Senior

Business Development Manager,

ICAEW visited ICAB from 8 to 18

April 2014 and participated

important meetings with ICAB in

Dhaka, Chittagong and with some

CA Firms. Different important issues

like renewal of MoU, ICAEW’s

support to update ICAB’s

Curriculum, Study Materials &

Training, QAD & IDC matters, new

qualifications and other joint

projects, ICAEW classes for ICAB

members, networking etc. were

discussed during the meetings.

Worrell conducted a discussion

session with ICAB Management

Team headed by myself on 9 April

2014 in ICAB office, Dhaka. He gave

a brief presentation on ICAEW’s old

and new evolved curriculum,

structure contents and

examinations etc. Among others

Member Council & Past Presidents

M. Farhad Hussain FCA & Md.

Humayun Kabir FCA, Director

(Technical) Mahbub Ahmed

Siddique FCA and Secretary

(Acting) Md. Saiful Islam ACA were

present in the discussion session.

Seminar for ICAEW Registered

Students

Justin West, Head of New Business

Opportunities, ICAEW and Jonathan

Worrell jointly demonstrated a

Seminar for ICAEW Registered

Students at ICAB Training Room, CA

Bhaban, Dhaka on 18 April 2014

and discussed how to improve

ICAEW Exam results as well as some

elements of the evolved ICAEW

papers among ICAEW registered

ICAB members. To inaugurate the

Seminar I emphasized mutual

relationship between our two

Institutes to improve the capacity

building of ICAB in the field of

education, examination and other

professional areas like Quality

Assurance, IDC etc.

Member Council & Past President

Md. Syful Islam FCA, Director

(Technical) Mahbub Ahmed

Siddique FCA and Snehasish Barua

FCA were also present in the

Seminar.

Meeting with David Brookfield

An important meeting between

David Brookfield, Consultant of

ICAEW and ICAB Examination

Experts headed by myself was held

on 23 April 2014 in a local hotel in

Dhaka. The meeting discussed ICAB

Syllabus contents as well as exam

resources, specially Taxation-II

paper and renewal of existing MoU

matter.

I hope that aforesaid visits of ICAEW

Representatives and several discussions

with them will strengthen future

relationship between ICAB & ICAEW and

Insha Allah we shall be able to sign the

renewal of MoU successfully within next

few months.

CRC-ICAB Seminar on Bank

Companies Act, Recent Amendments

& Issues

Chittagong Regional Committee

(CRC)-ICAB organized a CPD Seminar on

‘Salient Features of Bank Companies

Act, Recent Amendments & Issues’ on

12 April 2014 at Conference Hall of

ICAB-CRC Office in Chittagong.

Mohammed Roshangir, DMD of Bank

Asia Ltd. graced the occasion as the

Chief Guest and Imtiaz Alam ACA,

Proprietor, Imtiaz Alam & Co., Chartered

Accountants presented the Keynote

paper. In my address of welcome I

thanked CRC for choosing a timely topic

and expect that recent amendments will

ensure good governance in country’s

banking sector, control the participation

of banks in the Capital Market and

protect the interest of the small

investors in the capital markets. A large

number of members in Chittagong

participated in the seminar and many of

them took part in the discussion.

Leadership Training for ICAB

Members

ICAB organized a 2-day long Training

program on ‘The Art of Leadership’

from 26 to 27 April 2014 at Training

Room, CA Bhaban, Dhaka. The objective

of the training was to build confidence

with leadership quality among the

members specially young members.

Total 22 participants attended the

training program and 7 Resource

Persons from ICAB and outside

conducted the Training program. I

inaugurated the Training program as

Chief Guest and Suraiya Zannath Khan

FCA, Management Sr. Financial

Specialist, World Bank was present the

inaugural session as the Special Guest. I

expected that participants will improve

their leadership quality through the

training program.

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April 2014 No. 294

CRC Seminar on IAS-I: Presentation of

Financial Statements

CRC-ICAB organized a CPD Seminar on

‘IAS-Presentation of Financial

Statements’ on 26 April 2014 at CRC

Auditorium, Chittagong. Alihussain

Akberali FCA, Chairman, BSRM Steels

Ltd. graced the Seminar as Chief Guest

and Md. Saifur Rahman Mazumder

FCMA, FCA, Past Chairman, CRC-ICAB

presented the Keynote paper. Large

number of ICAB Members in Chittagong

attended the seminar and Haradan Dey

FCA, Partner, MRH Dey & Co, Chartered

Accountants conducted the seminar as

Session Chairman.

World Bank Workshop on Policy Note

Dissemination

The World Bank (supported by the ICAB)

organized a Policy Note Dissemination

Workshop on ‘Promoting Public

Private Partnership for Improved

Public Sector Auditing in Bangladesh’

on 29 April 2014 at BICC, Dhaka. Suriya

Zannath Khan FCA, Management Sr.

Financial Specialist, World Bank

presented the Policy Note. Masud

Ahmed, Hon’ble C&AG of Bangladesh

graced the function as the Chief Guest

while I was the Special Guest. In my

address, I mentioned that ICAB is

working as a Consulting body in this WB

financed project aiming to strengthen

strategic relationship between ICAB and

OCAG and both organization already

signed a strategic MoU on 07 November

2012. The project launched with many

more challenges addressing the

accounting and auditing practices for

improving Audit Assurance quality in

Public and Private Sectors. To overcome

the challenges, Public Private

Partnership is the way forward to ensure

a greater impact in the Audit and

Assurance Quality. ICAB is equally keen

to share knowledge & experience with

OCAG as an ongoing basis.

Johannes Zutt, the WB Country Director

in Bangladesh and Fily Sissoko,

Manager, South Asia Regional Financial

Management, World Bank also spoke on

the occasion. Member Council & Past

President-ICAB Anwaruddin Chowdhury

FCA and Deputy C&AG Dr. Shyamal

Kanti Chowdhury placed their

comments on the Keynote paper.

Representatives from different stake

holders including practicing members of

ICAB joined this Workshop.

Other important activities of this

month

Farewell in Honour of Outgoing ICAB

Secretary

ICAB gave a farewell to Dr. Mahfuzul

Hoque, Secretary (In-Charge) in a simple

ceremony on 2 April 2014 at ICAB

Auditorium, Dhaka. Office bearers, some

Council Members and ICAB Employees

joined the program and recognised the

contribution during his tenure. Dr

Mahfuz in his speech appreciated ICAB

executives for extending full

co-operation during his tenure of

service. He expressed his willingness to

co-operate with ICAB if his assistance is

required at any time.

AKM Rahmatullah FCA joins ICAB as

new Secretary

AKM Rahmatullah FCA joined as the

Secretary of the Institute of Chartered

Accountants of Bangladesh on 30 April

2014. Before his joining, he served as the

General Manager (Accounts & Budget)

in Bangladesh Bank. He is a Financial

Management Specialist and he has long

28 years professional experience. I hope

that new Secretary will successfully

discharge his duties and will be able to

handle the future challenges of the

Institute and the profession.

Meeting with BCACP Ad-hoc

Committee

Members of Bangladesh Chartered

Accountancy Chhatra Parishad (BCACP)

Ad-hoc Committee met with me at ICAB

Office, CA Bhaban, Dhaka. Various

academic issues including ICAB

Curriculum, library facilities, CA hostel

accommodation matters were

discussed. I assured all sorts of

cooperation to them to ensure proper

educational environment and other

related facilities for students to increase

passing rate in future and advised them

to concentrate more time to study for

their success.

Meeting with ICMAB Council

Members

A meeting between a 6-Member ICMAB

Council Team headed by its President

Mohammed Salim FCMA and ICAB

Council Members headed by myself was

held at ICAB Council Hall, CA Bhaban,

Dhaka on 17 April 2014. Meeting

discussed various professional matters

and bi-lateral issues. Among others Vice

Presidents Kamrul Abedin FCA & Nasim

Anwar FCA, Member Council & Past

Presidents Abbas Uddin Khan FCA & Md.

Syful Islam FCA, Member Council A F

Nesaruddin FCA and Secretary

(Acting)-ICAB Md. Saiful Islam ACA

attended the meeting on behalf of ICAB.

Meeting with WTO Team

A meeting between 2-Member WTO

Team and ICAB Management headed by

myself was held on 21 April 2014.

During meeting, I briefed them about

quality assurance, IDC activities and up

gradation of ICAB Curriculum in line

with ICAEW. ICAB Vice Presidents Kamrul

Abedin FCA and Nasim Anwar FCA,

Secretary (Acting)-ICAB Md. Saiful Islam

ACA were also present in the meeting.

Forkan Uddin appeared Live

Interview at Ekushey TV

Forkan Uddin FCA, Partner, Masih

Muhith Haque & Co., Chartered

Accountants participated in a live

interview with Ekushey TV Business

Program on Capital Market on 28 April

2014. Forkan in his interview focused on

present trend of Capital Market,

demutualization of two bourses, scope

of investment, bank rate, upcoming

National Budget and its impact on

Capital Markets etc. I hope that more

ICAB members will participate in the

print and electronic media in future on

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April 2014No. 294

different economic issues and will

increase the image of the Institute as

well as the profession.

Md. Shafiqul Islam Khan FCA and Kazi

Mezbah-ul Alam FCA pass away

I was deeply shocked and saddened to

hear the news of the death of Md.

Shafiqul Islam Khan FCA (Enrol-173),

Pro-Vice Chancellor, Darul Ihsan

University. Khan expired on 05 April

2014 due to heart attack (Inna

Lillahe......Rajeun). I, on behalf of the

profession, express profound grief on

his demise and pay heartfelt tribute to

the departed soul. In my condolence

message as President ICAB, I expressed

my deepest sympathy to the family

members and prayed to Almighty

Allah(SWT) for the eternal peace of the

departed soul.

I was also deeply saddened to learn

about the demise of Kazi Mezbah-ul

Alam FCA (Enrl-40), Managing Partner

of K M Alam & Co., Chartered

Accountants. Alam died on 15 April

2014 due to old age complications (Inna

Lillahe…..Rajeun). On behalf of

Council-ICAB and its Members, I

expressed my deepest sorrow at the

demise of Kazi Mezbah-ul Alam and

prayed to Allah (SWT) for the salvation

of the departed soul and give the

strength & courage to bereaved family

members to bear this irreparable loss.

A Milad & Doa Mahfil for deceased

ICAB Members

ICAB organized a Milad & Doa Mahfil at

ICAB Auditorium, Dhaka on 8 April 2014

evening. Before offered doa, ICAB

Councillors, relatives, colleagues and

friends of late ICAB Members recalled

the contribution of late ICAB Members

for the profession and the nation. They

prayed to Almighty Allah (SWT) for

eternal peace of the departed souls who

died over the past years.

Meetings of Council and Standing &

Non-standing Committees

The following meetings of the Council,

Standing and Non-standing Committees

and Sub-committees of ICAB were held

during the month of April 2014:

- 4th Meeting for 2014 of

Council-ICAB was held on 6

March 2014 at 11.30 am

- 5th Meeting for 2014 of


March 2014 at 5.30 pm

- Meeting of 11-Member Council

Committee on FRA Issues was

held on 19 March 2014 at 4.00

pm

- Meeting of 8-Member

Interview Board was held on 20


- Meeting of 8-Member

Interview Board was held on 31


Standing Committees:

- Examination Committee of

Council –ICAB was held on 6

March 2014 at 10.00 am

- 7-Member Sub-Committee of

Articled Students Committee

(ASC) of Council-ICAB was held

on 13 March 2014 at 5.30 pm

- 1st Meeting for 2014 of

Investigation and Disciplinary

Committee (IDC) of Council

–ICAB was held on 16 March

2014 at 6.00 pm

- 1st Meeting for 2014 of Articled

Students Committee (ASC) of

Council –ICAB was held on 18


- 2nd Meeting for 2014 of

Executive Committee (EC) of



Non-Standing Committees:

- 1st Meeting of Review

Committee for Published

Accounts & Reports (RCPAR) of



- 5-Member Sub-Committee for

Land Issue was held on 4


- 6-Member Sub Committee of

Professional Development

Committee (PDC) of



- 1st Meeting for 2014 of

Information and

Communication Technology

Committee (ICTC) of



- 6-Member Sub-Committee of

Continuing Professional

Development Committee

(CPDC) of Council-ICAB was

held on 12 March 2014 at 6.00

pm

- Meeting of Sub-Committee of

Committee for Amendment of

CA Order & Bye-Laws was held



Professional Development

Committee of Council-ICAB on

re-structuring ICAB’s Fees

Schedule was held on 24



Committee for Amendment of

CA Order & Bye-Laws was held


Thanks and best regards!

Showkat Hossain FCA

President

May 28, 2014

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April 2014 No. 294

he Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) organized a two day long workshop

on ‘The Art of Leadership’ from 26 to 27th April 2014 at its training room. A total number of 22 participants participated in the workshop.

ICAB President Showkat Hossain FCA inaugurated the workshop. Ms. Suraiya Zannath, Sr. Financial Management Specialist, the World Bank and Mozammel Haque, representative, the World bank were present as Special Guests in the inauguration session.

ICAB Council Member and Past Presidents Mr. Muhammed Farhad Hussain FCA , Mr. Md. Humayun Kabir FCA , Vice President Dewan Nurul Islam FCA, Council Member. Gopal Chandra Ghosh FCA, Humaira Sharmeen from Prothom Alo Jobs, Md. Moinul Islam from ACI and Md. Masud Khan from Surma Lafarge Cement were the

resource persons of the workshop.

Important areas of the workshop were Communication Skills, Public Speaking Skills, Leadership Theory & Practices, Interviewing Skills, Posture & Gesture, Expectations from a

Finance Manager, Management and Leadership in 21st Century, Career Progression. It was 3rd time of such workshop in this year. Fourth Batch of the workshop will be held in May this year.

TWorkshop on "The Art of Leadership" held

costs of living have gone up as a result of inflation and general price increase / hike considering the Taka value depreciation compared to Foreign Currency. Exempted limit(s) should be doubled.

Value Added Tax (VAT) policies On Price Declaration, ICAB proposed that the requirement of price declaration should be done away with. Instead VAT should be levied on the basis of the actual sales declared in the monthly return.

About Absence of clear guideline about VAT rate for import of service, ICAB proposed Import of service should attract VAT at the standard rate of 15%.

Regarding Inclusion of a provision mentioning the right of transferring initial burden of VAT to next stage, ICAB proposed that a Section or sub-section should be included mentioning the right of passing the burden of VAT to next stage through adding VAT with the sales price.

About Input VAT adjustment from Mobile bills, ICAB’s opinion is that Insertion of post paid mobile bills (with the required information of Mushk-11) along with telephone, fax etc. in Rule 19 sub rule 1(K). Input tax paid against mobile phone services (post paid mobiles registered with any business entity instead of any individual) up to a certain percentage (justifying it’s mobility and expected use for official purpose) may be allowed for input tax credit like other utility services.

On Time Limit for claiming input tax credit

of VAT policies, ICAB proposed that the Time limit for input tax credit should be extended to minimum 6 months from the date of Bill of Entry (B/E) or Invoice subject to entering the goods in manufacturing unit.

About Input VAT Credit on rental of floor place, Rental of floor place fulfills the definition of input as service. VAT paid by tenant of rented floor place should be explicitly eligible for input VAT credit is proposed.

On matter of VAT on Spare Parts, ICAB proposed to withdraw the existing provision of payment of VAT on spare parts at import stage by industrial importers subject to necessary documentation and declaration to the local VAT Office.

Regarding Elimination of provision for fixing tariff value, VAT should be levied on the basis of the actual sales declared in the monthly return is proposed.

About Input tax credit (VAT rebate), there should not be restriction imposed for allowing VAT credit if such VAT credit is genuine and supported by Bill of Entry or Mushak 11 against purchase of goods or service, ICAB proposed.

Credit of input VAT on certain services: 100% input VAT should be allowed as credit, the Institute proposed.

About Deduction of AIT from Industrial Units, it proposed that AIT is being collected from Industrial Importers which is adjustable with payable Income Tax annually. Industrial importers should be waived from such deduction. Specially Steels Sectors that is capital intensive low margin business sector. For Billets (H.S. Code Heading 72.07), Sponge Iron and Scraps (H.S.

Code Heading 72.03 & 72.04) the amount of AIT is high and the deducted AIT is engaging huge working capital making business costlier. Since the importers of Steel Sector invest huge amounts for operation there is no scope for them to avoid due Income Tax. AIT deduction at import stage can be stopped for the industrial sector specially for Steels Sector.

Regarding Issue VAT Challan (Factory to branch), with Ref. Section 5(1&4) of VAT & SD Act 2012 (i) Only one registration shall be required for central/main branch office (ii) For one economic transaction goods or services transfer from one branch to another branch will not be treated as supply and no output tax and input tax will be considered, ICAB proposed.

Standard rate of VAT: Instead of 15% , ICAB proposed 10% is proposed.

About Extension of time-limit for depositing Withholding VAT , ICAB’s proposal is that considering the practicality withholding VAT should be allowed to be deposited within 3 (three) weeks –as is the case with Income Tax Withhold deposit.

For Simplified Guideline for Trader in relation to Advance Trade VAT (ATV), it proposed to fix trade VAT @ 2% if value addition is less than or equal to 26.67% and VAT @ 15% on the value addition if value addition exceeds 26.67%.

VAT paid by Service Receiver in case of Service received from Outside of Country u/s 3(3)(d) of the VAT (#22) 1991 : As a result, such input VAT paid on imported services will increase cost of goods in case of having no refund through Duty Exemption & Drawback Office (DEDO is proposed.

From Last Page

Proposals on Tax and VAT

9

April 2014No. 294

ohammed Forkan Uddin FCA, capital market specialist and partner, Masih Muhith Haque & Co, Chartered Accountants appeared at Ekushey Business program on 28 April 2014 over a live interview focusing on capital market scenario, its future

movement and the upcoming national budget.

About present trend of capital market, he said that due to the political stability, surplus banks’ liquidity, single digit interest rate on FDR, demutualization of the two bourses, the capital markets are now acting in positive manner towards development. He said that due to demutualization, there is no possibility of share market manipulation, so the markets would become international standard and the foreign investment would come up in the market in future.

About upcoming national budget, he replied questions and said that withdrawn of AIT and exemption tax on dividend for listed companies will help to grow the capital markets.

M

Forkan Uddin appeared at live Ekushey Business Program on Capital Market

he Chittagong Regional Committee (CRC) of ICAB organized a CPD Seminar on 'Salient Features of Bank Company

Act, Recent Amendments & Issues' on Saturday, 12 April 2014 at the Conference Hall of ICAB-CRC office, Chittagong.

Mohammed Roshangir, Deputy Managing Director, Bank Asia graced the occasion as Chief Guest, Md. Salim Uddin MBA, FCMA, FCA, Professor, Department of Accounting & Information Systems, University of Chittagong was Session Chairman.

Imtiaz Alam ACA Proprietor, Imtiaz Alam & Co., Chartered Accountants presented the valuable Key-note paper in the seminar. The Key-note speaker described the details in his paper regarding Bank Company Act, recent amendments & other related issues. A short note is given hereunder.

Bangladesh Bank is empowered to act as the watchdog of the country's banking system, and all scheduled banks are accountable to Bangladesh Bank, which has extensive powers to ensure soundness of the banking system. No bank can commence banking business in Bangladesh and no existing bank can open a new branch in or outside the country or shift any branch from one place to another without obtaining a license/permission from the Bangladesh Bank.

The powers and functions of Bangladesh Bank are governed by various laws and acts including the Banker's Books Evidence Act 1891, Insolvency Act 1920, Banking Companies Ordinance 1962, Bangladesh Bank Order 1972, Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act 1986, Money Loan Court

Act 1990, Banking Companies Act 1991, Financial Institutions Act 1993 and Rules 1994, Companies Act 1994 and Bankruptcy Act 1997.

Laws are not holy scripts. Those are always subject to amendments with a view to meeting the demand of time and situation. The Bank Company Act (BCA) is no exception. Since its adoption in 1991, the law has been amended thrice, in 1993, 1995 and 2003.

The last military-backed caretaker government also proposed some changes in relation to the number of directors and the extent of individual family holdings in banking institutions. But nothing concrete was done to this effect during the tenure of that government. However, the country's National Parliament on July 14,2013 passed a bill amending the BCA in a wider perspective.

The present government after coming to power felt the necessity of amending the

act. But in the face of overt and covert opposition by the vested quarters, it also started dragging its feet on the issue.

However, the finance ministry had to take firm and swift moves to amend this piece of legislation when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had made it one of the conditions tagged to the availability of its $1.0 billion worth of Extended Credit Facility (ECF). The latest amendments to the BCA may not have met fully what the IMF wanted but those would surely help eliminate some major problems in the banking sector and strengthen the hands of the regulatory body (i.e. Bangladesh Bank), the Central Bank of our country.

Such Amendment will improve Good Governance in the Banking Sector, Control the participation of the banks in the Capital Market and protect the interest of the Small Investors and all depositors.

T

CRC Holds CPD Seminar on 'Salient Features of Bank Company Act, Recent Amendments & Issues'

10

April 2014 No. 294

ICAB President Attends Session on ICAEW’s Curriculumonathon Worrell conducted a discussion session to give an overview on ICAEW’s old and newly curriculum, structure, contents and examinations scheduled on 9 April 2014. Mr.

Worrell gave a brief presentation on the matter related to those areas. He also participated in an open discussion regarding upcoming examinations and ICAEW classes to be organized by ICAB in July and November this year.

Among others, ICAB President Showkat Hossain FCA, Council Member and Past Presidents Muhmmed Farhad Hussain FCA and Md. Humayun Kabir FCA, Secretary (Acting) Md. Saiful Islam ACA and Director (Technical) Mahbub Ahmed Siddique FCA were present in the discussion held at Mini Conference Room, CA Bhaban.

J

Justin West and Jonathon Worrell demonstrate ICAEW Students’ Seminar at ICAB

CAEW Head of new business development Justin West and Senior

Business Development Manager Jonathon Worrell jointly

demonstrated ICAEW Students’ Seminar at ICAB training room,

Dhaka on 18 April 2014. They presented a paper in the seminar

covering ICAEW’s syllabus and overview of ICAEW advanced stage

examination under old and new curriculum. The presentation also

covered ICAB advance stage examination results in Bangladesh,

common errors in examination paper, etc.

Among others, ICAB president Showkat Hossain FCA, Council Member

and Past President Syful Islam FCA, Director Mahbub Ahmed Siddique

FCA and Snehasish Barua FCA were present in the seminar.

Participants in the seminar requested

to hold ICAEW classes by ICAB and

their willingness to attend the

upcoming examinations.

ICAB President emphasized mutual

relation and benefits between the

two Institutes for capacity building

in the area of education,

examinations and overall quality of

the profession. Mr. Syful Islam

advised the students to give more

time and attention in study and to

work hard to pass the ICAEW

examinations as it is a matter for the

sake of reputation of both the

Institute and members as well.

I

Meeting with ICMAB Delegates

A delegation of the Institute of Cost Management & Accounts of Bangladesh (ICMAB) visited ICAB on 17 April 2014. ICAB team headed by Showkat Hossain FCA, President-ICAB held a meeting with the delegates from ICMAB on the same day to discuss about various professional matters and bi-literate issues. Other members of the ICAB team are Vice Presidents Kamrul Abedin FCA and Nasim Anwar FCA, Council Members Abbas Uddin Khan FCA, Md. Syful Islam FCA & A F Nesaruddin FCA, Secretary (Acting) Md. Saiful Islam ACA were present on the occasion.

11

April 2014No. 294

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB)

arranged a program at its Auditorium on 02 April 2014 in a bid to

give a Farewell to its Outgoing Secretary (In-charge) Prof. Dr.

Mahfuzul Hoque. ICAB President Showkat Hossain FCA, Vice

President Kamrul Abedin FCA, Past President and Council

Members Abbas Uddin Khan FCA, Nasir Uddin Ahmed FCA, Md.

Syful Islam FCA, Immediate Past President Md Abdus Salam FCA

and Employees of the Institute were present on the occasion. Mr.

Mahfuz joined the Institute on 1st April 2011 as Director

(Learning and Professional Development). ICAB President

recalled the contribution of Mr. Mahfuz and said, the

contribution of Mr. Hoque will be remembered and his future

attachment with the institute will be appreciable. The other

Council Member and Past Presidents also spoke on the occasion

in appreciation of his hard work and endeavour in ICAB as both

Director LPD and Secretary In-charge.

nion Parishad Governance Project

(UPGP) and Local Governance

Support Project (LGSP) of the Local

Government Division under the Ministry

of Local Government Rural Development

& Cooperative, GoB jointly organised

two-day training on ‘Financial Audits,

Performance Assessment, Fiduciary &

Safeguards Compliance’ for the auditing

and reviewing CA Firms assigned to

auditing and reviewing of Union Parishads

financial statements for 2012-2013,

2013-2014 and 2014-2015 under LGSP - II

at BIAM auditorium, Dhaka.

The trainings were held in several phases

throughout the month of April 2014. ICAB

president Showkat Hossain FCA was

present in both inauguration and closing

session of each

phase of the

training

programe on 1, 3,

6, 8, 10, 20 and 29

April 2014. He

gave a brief

speech on each

session of the

training. The ICAB

president handed

over certificates

to the partici-

pants after each

phase of the training.

LGSP Training programme on "Financial

audits, performance assessment, fiduciary

& safeguards compliance covered

different areas of Union

Parishad audit and budget-

ary functions like Perfor-

mance Assessment of Union

Parishads, Financial Audit,

Audit methodology and

field level audit, documen-

tation & reporting, Overview

of fiduciary & safeguards

compliance assessment and

open discussion session.

Resource persons of the

training are Prof. Mobasser

Monem, Department of Public Administra-

tion, University of Dhaka and Consultant,

UPGP, Md. Aminul Islam, Consultant, LGSP,

Ajit Kumar Paul FCA, Consultant, LGSP.

ICAB President Showkat Hossain FCA

delivered welcome speech at the ‘Orienta-

tion Program for Financial Auditors and

Performance Assessors’ under LGSP-II at

BIAM Foundation, Dhaka on 1 April 2014.

It is mentioned that the designated Firms

already have completed audit on financial

statements of Union Parishads for

2010-2011 and 2011-2012. The Local

Government Division urged the assigned

audit firms to complete the audit of the

Union Parishads across the country within

the stipulated time effectively.

UPGP & LGSP-II organize training for reviewing CA Firms for Union Parishad Audit

U

ICAB President Showkat Hossain FCA delivering welcome speech at the ‘Orientation Program for Financial Auditors and Performance Assessors’ under LGSP-II at BIAM Foundation, Dhaka on 01 April 2014.

Farewell Program in Honour of Outgoing Secretary

A partial view of the participants (Auditors) attended the training programme organized by UPGP & LGSP-II.

12

April 2014 No. 294

Name of Resource Persons(Sections- F & G of PS-KL-9th Batch)Mr Md Kishlur Rahman ACAMr Md Al-Amin Siddiki ACAMr Obaidur Rahman FCA Mr Md Humayun Kabir ACAMr Md Abdur Razzaque ACAMr Md Mahbubul Haque ACA Mr Mahmudur Rahman ACA Mr Sujan Kumar Saha ACA Mr Zafar Ullah Khan FCAMr Shibly Ahmed FCAMr Muhammad Shariful Islam Shiplu FCAProf. Dr ASM Hossain Tayiab FCAMr Md Abdullah-Al-Amin ACA Mr Mohammad Shibbir Hossain ACA Mr Mohammad Aminul Hoque ACAMr Mostak Ahmmed ACAMr Sajib Sarkar ACA Mr Chitta Ranjan Halder FCA Ms Mashruna A. Chowdhury ACAMr Mohammad Monowar Hossain ACA Mr K S Omar Faruk ACA Mr Khairul Basher FCA Mr Abdullah-Al-Mamun FCAMr Md Jasim Uddin ACAMr Mohyminul Islam Miltan Bepari ACAMr Md Anisur Rahman Mr Abdulla-Al-Mahmud FCA

Name of Resource Persons(Sections- A-C of PS-AL -8th Batch)Mr Mohammed Tofazzul Hussain FCAMr Abdullah-Al-Mamun ACAMr Anwaruddin Chowdhury FCA (GT)Mr Obaidur Rahman FCAMr Mohammad Redwanur Rahman FCAMr Md Abdur Rouf FCA Mr Dewan Nurul Islam FCAMr Masud Khan FCA-IndiaMr Md Kahir Mahmood FCA Mr Shaheduzzaman Choudhury FCAMr Md Shafiqul Alam FCAMr Mohammad Imtiaz Khan ACAMr Ranjan Kumar Bhowmik FCMAMr Abdul Khalek FCA (VAT-Portion) Mr Md Amirul Islam FCAMr Abdulla-Al-Mahmud FCAMr Md Parvej Ahmed ACA Mr Md Mahsudur Rahman FCAMr Mustaq Ahammed FCAMr Gopal Chandra Ghosh FCAMr Sabbir Ahmed FCAMr AH Mostafa Kamal KhanMr Md Shafiqul Alam FCA

Mr Sayeed Ahmed FCAMr Masud Khan FCA-India Mr Mohammed Forkan Uddin FCAMr Mohammad Abdul Ohab Miah FCA (VAT Portion)Mr Md Akbar Hossain FCAMr Md Din Islam Miah FCAMr Mohammed Sabir Ahmed FCADr Jakerul Abedin Mr Shamim -Al-Mamun ACAMr Mohammad Abdul Matin Mr Md Fokrul Islam FCAMr MAKH Hasif Sowdagar FCA Mr Md Saiful Islam ACA Mr Md Mahamud Hosain FCA Mr Muraheb Malik Chowdhury ACAMr Shaheduzzaman Choudhury FCAMr Shahriar Istiaq Halim ACAMr Bibhuti Bhushan Biswas ACAMr Anup Kumar Mukherjee ACAMr Zakir Hossain FCAMr Mahmudul Hasan Khusru FCAMr Md Reajul Islam FCA (VAT Portion) Mr Imtiaz Lutful Baset FCAMr Md Selim Reza FCAProf. Dr ASM Hossain Tayiab FCAMr Palash Mollick

Name of Resource Persons(Sections- D of PS-AS -7th Batch)Mr Gopal Chandra Ghosh FCAMr Mohammad Mehdi Hasan FCAMr Mohammed Forkan Uddin FCAMr Anwaruddin Chowdhury FCA(GT) Mr Sabbir Ahmed FCAMr Snehasish Barua FCAMr Syed Md Enamul Kabir FCA Mr Md Kishlur Rahman ACAMr Masud Khan FCA-India (GT)Mr Sayeed Ahmed FCAMr Mahbub Ahmed Siddique FCA Mr Dewan Nurul Islam FCA FCAMr Gopal Chandra Ghosh FCA

Visiting Faculties(for Ongoing Session)

Name of Visiting FacultiesMr Dewan Nurul Islam FCAMr. ABM Azizuddin FCAMr Anwaruddin Chowdhury FCAMr Md Syful Islam FCA, FCMAMr Md Abdus Salam FCAMr Gopal Chandra Ghosh FCA,FCMAMr Masud Khan FCA-IndiaMr Ranjan Kumar Bhowmik FCMAMr Abdul Khalek FCAMr Md Amirul Islam FCAMr Sabbir Ahmed FCA (E-770) Mr Mohammad Mehdi Hasan FCA Mr A H Mostafa Kamal Khan Dr. Jakerul Abedin

ICAB Academic Campus NewsThe Pre-Examination Evening Coaching

Classes of Professional Stage-Knowledge

Level (9th Batch, Sections: VI &VII, No. of

Students 173), Application Level (8th Batch,

Sections: I -III, # 256 Students) and

Advanced Stage (7th Batch, Section: I, # 52

Students) have started from 01 March

(PS-KL) & 12 March 2014 (PS-AL &AS) for

Examination Session: May-June 2014 at

Campus .The session will be continued up

to 29 May 2014.There are 481 students for

the Class Session of March-May 2014.

As a result, the cumulative number of

participated students of ICAB new

curriculum has been totalled to 6,641 till

April 28, 2014.

By this time, a

programme on Case

Study for Advanced

Resource Persons: ICAB Academic Campus (Session: March-May 2014)

Announcement(Classes of Next Session)

The New Session (June-August 2014) for the Students of Professional Stage-Knowledge Level (10th Batch) will start from Sunday, 01 June 2014 at ICAB Academic Campus. A Notice has already been issued in this matter, and all concerned students are advised to enroll the classes by 05 May 2014 at ICAB Academic Campus.

13

April 2014No. 294

Md. Shafiqul Islam Khan FCA (Enrl-173) Pro-Vice Chancellor, Darul Ihsan University died due to Heart Attack on 05 April 2014. (Innah Lillahe ... Rejeun). On behalf of the Council and the members of the Institute, the President of ICAB expressed deep sorrow at the demise of Mr. Shafiqul and prayed to almighty Allah, the most merciful for salvation of his departed soul and give the

bereaved family the strength and courage to bear the irreparable loss.

Kazi Mezbah-ul Alam FCA (Enrl-40) Managing Partner, K M Alam & Co. Chartered Accountants, died on 15 April 2014 due to old age complications. (Innah Lillahe ... Rejeun). He was a man of great virtues and high self esteem. On behalf of the Council and the members of the Institute, the President of ICAB expressed deep sorrow at the demise of Mr. Kazi Mezbah-ul Alam and prayed to almighty Allah, the most merciful for salvation of his departed soul and give the

bereaved family the strength and courage to bear the irreparable loss.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) arranged a 'Milad and Doa Mahfil for the salvation of departed souls of late Members of the Institute at ICAB Auditorium on 8 April 2014. Before starting Milad and doa Mahfil, the relatives, colleagues, friends and well wishers of the late members recalled their contribution to the nation and the Institute as well. They prayed to the almighty Allah for the eternal peace of the departed souls of their beloved Fellow Members, who died over the past years.

ICAB President Showkat Hossain FCA, Members of the Institute and employees attended the Milad & doa Mahfil, conducted in solemnity and due honour, specially for the members who expired recently.

Obituary

Kazi Mezbah-ul Alam FCA Md. Shafiqul Islam Khan FCA

A Milad and Doa Mahfil for Late ICAB Members

level students has started from 14 March

2014 at ICAB Academic Campus. There are

52 students in this session. The class will be

closed on 17 May 2014.

The Conversion Courses on ‘Accounting’ of

Professional Stage–Knowledge Level (9th

Batch) & Application (5th Batch) levels

which commenced on 04 April 2014,

continued upto 02 May 2014 at Campus.

There are 49 students for the Class Session

of April-May 2014. The total number of

have Conversion Courses completed

students reached at 1,274 ( PS-KL,1138 +

136, PS-AL) up to 31 March 2014 at

Campus.

On the other hand, a- new session of

classes for the Students of Professional

Stage-Knowledge Level (10th Batch) will

begin from Sunday, 01 June 2014 at ICAB

Academic Campus. A Notice has already

been issued in this regard and all

concerned students are advised to enroll

for the classes by 05 May 2014 at ICAB

Academic Campus.

The Programme on the mentioned Levels

of classes have been organized by the

Additional Director at ICAB Academic

Campus under the supervision of the Vice

President (Education & Training)-ICAB, Mr.

Dewan Nurul Islam FCA with the consent

and guidance of the Chairman of Board of

Studies-ICAB, Mr.ABM Azizuddin FCA &

President- ICAB, Mr Showkat Hossian FCA.

Campus News Cont’ed

14

April 2014 No. 294

The Members of the Ad-hoc Committee, Bangladesh Chartered

Accountancy Chhatra Parishad (BCACP) of ICAB paid a courtesy

call on ICAB President Showkat Hossain FCA at latter’s office on

15 April 2014. They held a meeting with the ICAB President and

discussed on various academic issues like ICAB curriculum,

library facilities, examinations and the accommodation problems

in CA Hostel. ICAB President assured them of his best

cooperation to ensure proper educational environment and

other related facilities for the sake of the development of the

profession. He advised the students to be more attentive in their

studies. He further said there is no alternative to study to pass

the examinations and hard work is essential for qualifying the

exams. The Members of the BCACP Committee handed over a

bouquet to the ICAB President on the occasion.

A team of WTO visited ICAB on 21 April 2014 to have a

glimpse on overall development of the Institute and to

discuss various professional issues those ICAB adopted

and implemented since ROSC Report in 2003. The

discussion mainly focused on activities of ICAB-Quality

and Assurance Department, Investigation and Disciplinary

proceedings through professional conduct and the

up-gradation of education system in line with ICAEW.

ICAB President Showkat Hossain FCA, Vice Presidents

Kamrul Abedin FCA, Nasim Anwar FCA and ICAB Secretary

(Acting) Md. Saiful Islam ACA were present in the meeting.

CAB Examinations Sub-committee

held a meeting with David

Brookfield, Senior Consultant and

Syllabus Expert, ICAEW at Hotel

Sonargaon, Dhaka on 22 April 2014.

ICAB President Showkat Hossain FCA,

Vice Presidents Kamrul Abedin FCA,

Dewan Nurul Islam FCA, Council

Member & Past Presidents ASM

Nayeem FCA, Muhammed Farhad

Hussain FCA, Md. Humayun Kabir FCA,

Md. Syful Islam FCA, Director

(Technical) Mahbub Ahmed Siddique

FCA and Controller of Examinations Md.

Afzal Hossain were attended the

meeting.

In the meeting they discussed

examination related issues focussing

on syllabus coverage, assessments

ideas, communications between

examineers and tutors, learning

materials and pass rates of students

attempting to be ICAEW qualified. They

also discussed other areas of mutual

interest between the ICAB and ICAEW.

I

WTO Team visits ICABBCACP Ad-hoc Committee Meet ICAB President

David Brookfield Attends ICAB Examinations Sub-committee Meeting

15

April 2014No. 294

A team of Dhaka Regional Committee, ICAB led by

President DRC Md. Fokrul Islam FCA met ICAB

President Showkat Hossain FCA at his office on 03

April 2014. The other members of the team are Md.

Eftekhar Ali FCA, Md. Selim Reza FCS, FCA, Mizanur

Rahman FCA, Mohammed Khairul Alam FCA. They

held the meeting to discuss professional issues and to

apprise the matters related to the affairs of the

Committee to the President. At the meeting ICAB

President emphasized for more pro-active role in

building image of the Institute as well as to foster the

development of the profession.

ICAB called an emergency council meeting at Westin Hotel on 09 April 2014. ICAEW Senior Business Development Manager Jonathon Worrell joined the council meeting to discuss academic strategy and papers covering ICAEW’s syllabus and renewal of MoU between the ICAB and ICAEW. Members of the Council stressed on mutual benefits and capacity building in the area of education, examinations and overall quality of the profession. Most of the Council Members ICAB attended the Meeting.

discussion meeting was held on 28 April 2014 between World Bank and ICAB Team on existing and

upcoming World Bank Funded Projects. The meeting discussed about ongoing

projects and different avenues and scopes that the World Bank and ICAB can work with.The Members of the World Bank team were Ms. Suraiya Zannath Khan FCA, Sr.

Financial Management Specialist, the

World Bank and Fily Sissoko, Manager,

South Asia Regional Financial

Management, the World Bank. ICAB Team

led by ICAB President Showkat Hossain

FCA included Vice President Dewan

Nurul Islam FCA, Council Member & Past

Presidents Abbas Uddin Khan FCA, Md.

Humayun Kabir FCA and Md Abdus

Salam FCA, Council Members Masih

Malik Chowdhury FCA, A F Nesaruddin

FCA, Md. Shahadat Hossain FCA and

Gopal Chandra Ghosh FCA, Director

(Technical) Mahbub Ahmed Siddique

FCA, Senior Deputy Director (PC) Md.

Saiful Islam ACA, Deputy Director (LPD)

Yesmin Hosna ACA.

A

Meeting with DRC Delegates

World Bank Delegates Visit ICAB

Jonathon Worrell attendsan Urgent Council Meeting

16

April 2014 No. 294

Published by the Editorial Board of the Council, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB)100 Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Dhaka 1215; Tel. 9117521, 9112672, 9115340 , 9137847 Fax: 880-02-8119399 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.icab.org.bd

Chittagong: HBFC Building (3rd Floor), 1/D, Agrabad Com. Area, Chittagong, Bangladesh Tel: 880-31-724674 Fax: 880-31-813579 E-mail: [email protected] Chapter: Suite One, 2 Haydons Road, London SW19 1HL, United Kingdom Tel: 44-020 8544 1234 Fax: 44-020-8544 1400 E-mail: [email protected] American Chapter: 5 Massey Square, Suite-2519, Toronto, Ontario M4C 5L6, Canada Tel: 416-686 6760 Fax: 416-916 1091 E-mail: [email protected]

A K M Rahmat Ullah FCA

ICAB Submits Proposals on Tax and VAT Policies to NBR Regarding Budget 2014-’15

egarding the upcoming National Budget 2014-2015, ICAB submitted its proposals on VAT & Tax policies to the National Board of Revenue (NBR)

recently. The proposals were finalized by Taxation & Corporate Laws Committee of ICAB and was highly appreciated and overweighed by the NBR. The authority of NBR said that with due consideration and review, it will incorporate the proposals where it may deem fit in the upcoming national budget.

ICAB’s proposals were made with a view to increase of government revenue, avoid contradictory provisions & loopholes of existing laws, encourage investment as well as discourage siphoned of capital to abroad, reducing the Tax rate on organizations like SMEs that create more job opportunities, controlling Tax return submission by NGOs and verification of submitted financial reports, etc.

The proposals emphasized mainly on three areas; increase of revenue, remove procedural flaws and ensuring social justice. ICAB’s proposals cover 58 areas on Tax policies and 37 areas on VAT policies of the government. Some of them are as follows:

Tax Policies On Tax amnesty in investment in real estate on payment of tax, ICAB proposed tax amnesty in investment in real estate on payment of reduced tax: may be truncated based on Square Metre or Flat rate in between 5%-7.5% is proposed.

On Special tax treatment in respect of investment in residential building and apartment section 19BBBBB, ICAB proposed that source of any sum invested by any person, in the construction or purchase of any residential, commercial building or apartment, shall be deemed to have been explained if the assessee pays, before the assessment for the relevant assessment year in which the investment is completed.

On Financial Statement Certified by Chartered Accountants, ICAB proposed without prejudice to the preceding sub-sections, every public or private company as defined in the Companies Act, 1913 (VII of 1913) or Company Act, 1994 shall, with the return of income required to be filed under this Ordinance for any income year, furnish a copy of the Financial Statements in respect of that income year certified by a Chartered Accountant with the authentication mark from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh.

Regarding Deduction from the payment of certain services, ICAB proposed that after the existing provision the following Para can be inserted in the existing provision: :Provided that in case of the commission/ margin is

not disclosed in the bill, tax should be deducted on a notional profit @ 15% on the gross bill excluding VAT.

On the matter of Submission of tax return by the NGO, ICAB proposed that in the country there are a number of NGOs who do not submit tax returns. To compel them for submission of tax return, NGO Affairs Bureau and other lending organization (Like PKSF) may ask for producing current tax clearance certificate before renewing enlistment/loan agreement/ making disbursement of loan. In this respect, NBR may link up the matter with relevant Ministries.

About Submit report to the Board by a Chartered Accountants, the Chartered accountant, after examination of the accounts of that assessee, shall submit a report in writing to the Board along with findings within a time as may be specified by the Board, was proposed provided that the report of the Chartered Accountant should have authentication mark from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh.

Capital gain tax: The rate of capital gain tax may be raised to at least 20% is proposed.

On Discourage Concealment, a harsh law for non-disclosure of assets in IT10B along with the tax return may be introduced imposing 50% flat rate tax on movable assets (cash & financial instruments) and 30% on immovable assets is proposed.

About Individual Tax Rates, ICAB proposed Individual tax rate as follows: a) First Taka 300,000 @ Nil, b) Next Taka 400,000 @ 10%,c) Next Taka 400,000 @ 15%, d) Next Taka 300,000 @ 20%, e) Balance Taka @ 25%. Tax exemption limits for female tax payers and tax payers aged 65 years or more is Taka 350,000 and tax payers who are mentally or physically retarded is Taka 400,000.

On Corporate Tax Rates, Corporate Assessee(s) (Other than Publicly Traded Company-PTC, Bank, Insurance & Financial or Money investing /lending Institutions) 35% and Bank, Insurance & Financial or Money investing / lending Institution Leasing or House Finance Companies tax rate would be 37.5% and Publicly Traded Company-PTC (i.e. listed) Other than Bank, Insurance & Financial or Money investing / Lending Institution, Leasing or House Finance companies or Mobile Phone Operator Company or Cigarette Manufacturing company would be 25% , ICAB proposed.

For Tax holiday, ICAB proposed that Some incentive in the form of tax holiday may be introduced for tourist industries to encourage the growth of this sector.

(a) Exemption limit of House rent Allowance for Salary Income.

(b) Other allowances or benefits

Exemption limit should be extended to Tk 25,000 from existing Tk 20,000 as relevant R

A K M Rahmat Ullah Joins as Secretary of

ICAB

A K M Rahmat Ullah FCA has joined as Secretary of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) on Thursday 30 April 2014.

Before his joining, he was General Manager (Accounts & Budgeting Dept.) in Bangladesh Bank. He was Financial Management Specialist (Consultant) in IDA Project, General Manager of Social Development Foundation (SDF) under the Ministry of Finance, GoB and Deputy Director (Audit) in Bangladesh Open University. He is a Fellow Member of the Institute. He did his Masters in Accounting from the University of Dhaka in 1981.

53 years old chartered accountant credited many professional trainings through his 28 years in service both home and abroad. Some of them are on distance education administration and financial management in Canada, fiduciary management training of community driven development project in Italy and liquidity risk management and stress testing under IFSB Standard by the Islamic Financial Services Board in Malaysia and Modern Office Management and Moral Development from the Bangladesh Institute of Administration & Management (BIAM).

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