sign in sign up
<<
Home , Rio Tinto (corporation)

MCT/AMCT & ICM EXAM RESULTS A question on policy will always appear

CHRIS BUNTON, ADRIAN BUCKLEY AND CATHERINE ADAIR-FAULKNER ANALYSE THE RESULTS OF THE APRIL 2007 SITTING OF THE MCT, AMCT AND ICM EXAMINATIONS. INCLUDED IS A LIST OF NAMES OF ALL STUDENTS WHO PASSED.

MEMBERSHIP EXAM ASSOCIATE EXAM The pass rates for this sitting were 51% in Paper VII, 58% in Paper VIII Foundation level The foundation level comprises four papers: and 61% in Paper IX, with an overall pass rate of 46%. It was Financial and Management Accounting, Economics and Statistical encouraging to see the pass rate in Paper VII above 50%, but those in Analysis, Corporate Tax, and Business Law. the other two papers were in the lower part of their historic range. A In the Accounting paper, the standard of scripts continued to show surprising number of candidates scored very poorly in all papers, and an improving trend. Of the 84 who sat the exam, 54 were awarded a were clearly not yet equipped to take the exams, which depressed pass, giving a pass rate of 64%, a little up on the last sitting’s 62%. the pass rates. Pleasingly, though, most of the referral candidates had But there was obviously a long tail, reflective of a fair number of ill- put in the work to pass the qualification. prepared candidates – 13 scored 35 or less. There were several strong The main case in Paper VII revolved around an international drinks scripts, with 17 candidates scoring 65% or more, eight of whom company. Where the weaker candidates stumbled was in translating scored 72% or more and were awarded distinctions. Overall their knowledge of the theory into quantified proposals, and putting achievement was better than the last two sittings. that analysis into the context of the company in the case. The In the Economics and Statistical Analysis paper, the standard company had stable cashflows, so could carry significant debt – of scripts was generally good. Of the 60 candidates who sat the a crucial point that some candidates failed to spot. Part of the exam, 37 were awarded a pass, six of whom were classified as question asked for a quantified distribution policy, and some distinction level. The pass rate, at 62%, was lower than immediately candidates were unable to turn their knowledge of the theory into preceding sittings. coherent specifics. In the Corporate Tax paper, 62 candidates presented themselves, In Paper VIIIA the main case concerned the financing of a takeover. and 42 passed, five of whom achieved distinction status. This result Weaker candidates missed the fact that the deal itself was marginal. was similar to the immediately previous sitting. At this level, candidates must reach their own, independent opinions In the Business Law paper, 75 candidates sat and 48 passed, giving of propositions rather than assume that what they are given makes a pass rate of 64%. There were six distinctions. The examiner noted economic sense. Paper VIIIB, based around the risks of a large an improvement on recent sittings. company, was generally well handled. The section that candidates found most difficult was the interrelationship between business risks Associate level There is a choice of papers to attain Associate level. and financial risks, but there was enough good performance Some may be sat as a one-off without aiming for Associate status, elsewhere in the paper for a respectable pass rate. notably the Financial Mathematics and Modelling paper and the Risk In Paper IX, the main shortfall came where candidates were asked Management for Pensions exam. Other than these, the papers to develop financial policies. Regurgitation of the issues is not reviewed here are Liquidity Management, Risk Management, and enough; application to the case was what was required. A question on Corporate Finance and Funding. policy will always appear in the exams. The Liquidity paper was sat by 126 candidates, 77 of whom passed, Where weak candidates fell short, it was generally on the ability to giving a pass rate of 61%. There were nine distinctions. Too many apply theory coherently to real situations. The principle is the same in failing candidates displayed a lack of comfort with cashflow all papers. Start with the business context, use that to inform your forecasting and how to draw conclusions from it. assessment of the risks of the situation in the case and then use In the Risk Management paper, 131 candidates presented themselves that insight to derive the implications for the task in hand. If asked and 65 passed, giving a pass rate of 50%. There were a fair number of to quantify your answer, do so. In real life, your board will demand outstanding papers and five distinctions were awarded, but far too no less. many candidates performed badly on the biggish first question. As in previous sittings, there were some excellent scripts and those In the Corporate Finance and Funding paper, 128 sat and 58 passed who passed can be proud of their achievements. – a pass rate of over 45% compared with 51% last time. In the Fast

42 THE TREASURER JULY | AUGUST 2007 mct/amct & icm EXAM RESULTS

EXAM RESULTS 1998-2007: PASS RATES THE PRINCIPLE IS THE SAME IN ALL PAPERS. START WITH THE BUSINESS CONTEXT, USE THAT TO INFORM YOUR ASSESSMENT OF THE RISKS OF MCT THE SITUATION IN THE CASE AND 100 THEN USE THAT INSIGHT TO DERIVE 80 THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE TASK IN ) % (

s 60 HAND. IF ASKED TO QUANTIFY, DO e t a r

s

s 40 SO. IN REAL LIFE, YOUR BOARD WILL a P DEMAND NO LESS. 20 TM AFRM CFM OVERALL

0 8 9 9 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 Track paper, for qualified accountants, 98 students sat and 48 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ct r ct r ct r ct r ct r ct r ct r ct r ct r O Ap O Ap O Ap O Ap O Ap O Ap O Ap O Ap O Ap passed, a pass rate of 49%, much better than the previous sittings. There were two distinctions in the Corporate Finance and Funding paper and three on the Fast Track. In the Certificate in Financial Mathematics and Modelling, the pass rate was 80%, with 28 out of 35 candidates passing and five achieving distinctions. This pass rate is attributed to candidates’ systematic and thorough preparation throughout the course, including working and ICM submitting progress tests and attending tuition. 100 April 2007 saw the second sitting of the Risk Management for Pensions paper. Eight of the 10 participants on the course passed, but 80 there were no distinctions. Again, the high pass rate reflects thorough )

% preparation by some very committed and well-qualified candidates. ( 60

s e

t Overall, pass rates were good. Reference to suggested solutions to a r

s 40

s past papers and attendance at tuition and revision sessions remain a P highly recommended. 20

0 INTERNATIONAL CASH MANAGEMENT EXAM 8 9 9 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 t 0 0 0 0 0 0 t 0 0 0 0 April 2007 reflects a disappointing out-turn, culminating in a pass ct pr ct pr ct pr ct pr c pr ct pr ct pr c pr ct pr O A O A O A O A O A O A O A O A O A rate of only 49%. This is in stark contrast to the gratifying 61% achieved during the October 2006 sitting. More encouragingly, the examination board awarded five strong distinctions in this sitting. The results reflect in part a frustratingly high number of Question 1 fails. Given the absolute requirement to pass this compulsory element of the examination, it is evident that renewed attention AMCT should now be paid to this component. Given the uniformity of style 100 and content for this question throughout all the ICM examination papers, poor examination technique will no doubt be contributing to 80 this trend.

) Interestingly, while many students demonstrated an improved %

( 60

s knowledge of cash management and treasury innovation, some e t a r common knowledge gaps manifested regarding basic cash s 40 s a

P management disciplines such as payment factories, payment 20 systems, documentary collections, and even the fundamental ‘duties 6 7 6 6 7 6 7 6 6 6 7 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

t r r t t r r r r t t t t t r r r r r r r r r t t r r r r a c c c p p c c c c c p p p p c c p p p p p p p p p p p p p / of a bank’. A O A A O A A O A A O A O A n A O A A O A A O A A O 0 A O A A With the recent launch of the revised manual, students now have FMA ESA CT BL LM the opportunity to revise these key ICM elements and consider them RM CFF CFF FT FMM RMP within the context of the case studies.

Chris Bunton is Chairman of the MCT Examination Board. Adrian Buckley is Chairman of the AMCT Examination Board Catherine Adair-Faulkner is Chairman of the International Cash Management Examination Board. wwwtreasurers.org

JULY | AUGUST 2007 THE TREASURER 43 mct/amct & icm EXAM RESULTS

EXAM RESULTS THE ASSOCIATION OF CORPORATE TREASURERS WISHES TO EXTEND ITS CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE WHO HAVE PASSED EXAMINATIONS.

MCT PASS

Distinctions Paper VII I Paper VIII I Paper IX I Lesley Flowerdew WS Atkins plc Benjamin Peacock Group I Ben Gothard Habitat Matthew Purcell Capital I I James Harvey Rolls-Royce plc I Andrew Rowlands plc I I Andrew Life HSBC Bank plc I I I Philip Scott Vodafone Group Services Limited Richard Llewellyn plc Matthew Shelley plc Jane Maguire Nortel Networks (UK) Ltd Christopher Smith Nomura International plc Kerri Maharaj RBTT Bank Limited Karen Toh Shell International Ltd I I Michelle Mitchell Deloitte & Touche LLP Joanne Webster GlaxoSmithKline plc Timothy Parsons plc Mark Williams Dyson Ltd

AMCT PASS

Distinctions CFF I FRM I LM I RM I CFF FT I

Edem Adzaku Integritas Sarah King Barclays Bank plc Acheampong Afriyie Jeff Wooller College Ltd Nathan Lane Onyx Scientific Ltd Carlos Araujo Shell International Ltd Gavin Laws Ernst & Young Ian Armstrong Rolls-Royce plc I Jennifer Lister Premier Farnell plc Henry Basing Merrill Lynch Europe Plc Alison Machin The Royal Bank of Scotland Linda Beckwith Norwich Union Insurance John Madziva Michael Beesley The Co-operative Bank plc Robert Marrow Shell International Petroleum Company Ltd I I Julie Brockley Barclays Bank Plc Faryal Maudarbocus National Express Group plc Tracey Brown Subsea 7 Howard Bruce Moller Lafarge (UK) Services Ltd Anezka Christovova The Royal Bank of Scotland Jonathan Moore plc I Gemma Coburn BBC Sian Morgan The Royal Bank of Scotland Alex Cockerell Deloitte & Touche Pieter-Bas Mulder PricewaterhouseCoopers Nicholas Collins PricewaterhouseCoopers Glenn Noble Rexam plc Jean Cookson Bank of Ireland (Bristol and West Plc) Marie O’Mahony Xerox XF Holdings Ltd Lorraine Cumberland NM Rothschild & Sons Limited Margaret O’Sullivan Nike European Operations Netherlands BV Manoj Devadas Lehman Brothers Juli Pargeter Provident Financial plc Paul Doherty AIB Group Kreena Patel BT Tanya Evans Steve Peirce Saga Group Ltd Daniel Ferguson Royal & SunAlliance Insurance Group plc I Jonathan Pepper HBOS Treasury Services plc Barna Gergely PricewaterhouseCoopers Jonas Persson BNP Paribas Swee Guan Goh British American Tobacco Asia Pacific Rod Pirie First Group plc I Amy Gudgeon AstraZeneca plc I Joanne Reed MyTravel Group plc Deborah Hanna The Regenda Group Laura Reeves First Choice Holidays plc Alastair Hay KPMG Corporate Finance Max Rink Birds Eye Iglo Group Jonathan Heminsley National Bank Mark Ronan HBOS plc Angela Hiney Deloitte I Peter Savidge Barclays Capital Stuart Hitchcock RBS Greenwich Capital Narayanan Seshan Bahrain Petroleum Company BSC Robert Howarth Skipton Building Society I Gary Shannon PricewaterhouseCoopers Tina Hufton PricewaterhouseCoopers Alan Shaoul P&O Group Katherine Hughes Tomkins plc Jean Sheridan Radio Telefis Éireann I Ruth Hunt Shell International Limited Harpal Singh Lloyd’s Register of Shipping Marian Ivascu CII Group Christopher Skinner Deloitte & Touche Mark Jackson Lloyds TSB Bank Plc Mark Smith Olga Johnson PriceWaterhouseCoopers James Smyth Lloyds TSB Bank Plc

44 THE TREASURER JULY | AUGUST 2007 mct/amct & icm EXAM RESULTS

Neil Somerville Ryder Plc Almar Van Paeschen The Carphone Warehouse Group plc Peter Spencer Barry Watson Craig Stanbury Tesco plc Martin Watts & Quadrant Housing Trust Claire Stokes PLC Ian Wilson Yule Catto & Co plc Josephine Teo Shell International Ltd Mathew Wimsett The Royal Bank of Scotland Mimi Timar TimeWarner Darren Wingate WPP Group plc Martin Tirivanu Harmony Mining Ltd Hong Zhang Shell International Ltd Faisal Umair Maersk Benelux BV

CERT ICM PASS

Distinctions I Kim McKenna ING Wholesale Banking Gautam Abroal Citibank NA Johan Moojen Tennet TSO BV Carmen Barbulescu ING Bank Tanja Morson Dyson Ltd Fiona Beaney Nicholas Chong Weng Mun Accenture I Rens Brocheler Ministry of Finance Huong Giang Nguyen Citigroup Vietnam Stefania Cairola Fiat Finance and Trade Ltd Andrew Onions Britvic plc Marta Cerina Bank of America Lindsey Orrowe JP Morgan Chase Bank I Chit Vina Cheung HSBC Hong Kong Robert-Jan Otten ING Wholesale Banking Evelyn Chua Citigroup Investment Bank (Singapore) Limited Pepyn Schellaars Bank of America Ellen Cornelissen HSBC Bank plc Gerrit Schep Fortis Bank John Corrigan JP Morgan Chase Bank Kevin Shakespeare HBOS plc Erik De Bloeme Jeyes Ltd Gerard Sloan Bombardier Aerospace Shorts Adrian Dray Bank of America Nicholas Soo HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd I Karen Fagan JT International Business Services Ltd Ai Bee Soon Bank I Annabel Farlow Xansa UK Ltd Gregory Struyf Aviapartner Lovkesh Gogna British Telecommunications plc Marc Thomas HSBC Bank Australia Nicolas Grimard AIG Mary Rose Tiamson Bank of America Joakim Haak SEK Financial Advisors AB Caroline Tindale Unipart Group Ltd Simon Harrison ESAB Holdings Ltd Mark Tweedie Citigroup I Colin Hilditch Bank of Scotland Zamshed Uddin Citigroup Scott Lee Citibank Sarah Willcox FESPA LTD Samantha Jane Lewis Unipart Group Ltd Jacqueline Wilson Kimberly Clark Europe Stuart Mason Travelex Makpal Yesmukhanova Agip KCO Fergus McDonald Royal Bank of Scotland plc

FMM PASS

Distinctions I

David Alderman Chelsea Building Society Rangan Ravindran Alliance & Leicester plc Elliot Brown Bank of Scotland David Sams Rio Tinto plc I Stuart Clarke Chelsea Building Society Ian Sillars The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc Pim Denissen Aegon NV Shona Smedley Northern Rock plc I Sarah Frampton Rolls-Royce plc Lee Trewartha Genworth Financial Wendy Fry ING Direct NV Paul Tydeman Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd James Gibbs Credit Suisse Financial Products Richard Van Rossum Akzo Nobel NV Joe Kelly Man Financial Ltd I Sebastiaan Weeda KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Stephen Mander Kimberly Clark Europe I Kate Williamson ING Direct NV Keith Mason OFWAT Ian Wilson Yule Catto & Co plc Andrew Mead National Grid plc I Darren Wingate WPP Group plc Pieter-Bas Mulder PricewaterhouseCoopers Tristan Winter Chelsea Building Society Jayesh Patel Simon Yeldham Snell & Wilcox Limited Collin Ratnam T-Mobile UK Monica Yuen

JULY | AUGUST 2007 THE TREASURER 45