from left: Pro-Rector Prof. Godfrey Baldacchino, Dean, Prof. Frank Bezzina, Awardee Mr Matthew Abela (Best Dissertation), and Dr Peter J Baldacchino, Head, Department of Accountancy (FEMA)

On Tuesday 24 April, the Department of Accountancy within Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy held this year’s presentation of awards to the Master in Accountancy 2015/2017 graduate group at Lecture Theatre 2 at the University of Malta Msida Campus.

The Head of Department, Dr Peter J. Baldacchino made an introductory speech on the various developments of the Department during the past year. He also thanked all the sponsors for making the activity possible. The visiting lecturer Prof Susana Jorge, Affiliated Researcher at CICP (Research Centre in Political Science) of University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, gave a short speech on referred to the international situation regarding the accountancy profession and referred to in particular that in her own country and that in Malta.

Fifteen different awards were then announced by the Pro-Rector Professor Godfrey Baldacchino. Award winners were congratulated by the Pro-Rector and by the Dean Professor Frank Bezzina and then presented awards by the following sponsors: the Malta Institute of Accountants, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the National Audit Office, the Central Co-operative Fund, and seven international accountancy firms. Each award winner presented a copy of the study to the sponsor.

The Malta Institute of Accountants Best Student of the Year Prize was awarded by Mr William Spiteri Bailey, President, Malta Institute of Accountants to Mr Matthew Buhagiar.

Mr Chris Naudi awarded the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) prize for the best dissertation to Mr Matthew Abela for his dissertation “Financial Reporting for Maltese Voluntary Organisations: An Assessment”.

Mr Josef Luke Azzopardi won the Deloitte prize for the best dissertation in Professional Issues in Accountancy for his dissertation 'Discretionary Advisory Services in the Local Scenario: Past, Present and Future'. The other Deloitte prize, that for best dissertation in Taxation, was a joint award won by Ms Maria Grima for her dissertation 'An Analysis of Tax Residency Programmes in Malta' and by Mr Joseph Muscat with his dissertation 'Alternative Fiscal Measures for Commercial Refuse Collection (packaging Refuse)'.  

This year EY again awarded two prizes, one on Corporate Governance and one on Other – Financial Reporting Standard. The former was won by Ms Jessica Gatt for her dissertation 'The Nomination Committee in the Corporate Governance of Maltese Listed Companies'; the Other – Financial Reporting Standards Award was won by Ms Letizia Seychell for her dissertation 'Government Finance Statistics and Public Sector Accounting Standards in EU: Converging?'.

The Grant Thornton prize for Law related to Accountancy was awarded to Ms Denise Azzopardi for her dissertation “The Implications of the bank Recovery and Resolution Directive on Non-Core Banks and Investment Firms in Malta”.

The KPMG Financial Accounting prize was won by Ms Vanessa Bugeja for her dissertation 'Transposition of Directive 2013/34/EU into Maltese Law: The Accountancy Profession View'. The other KPMG prize was in Internal Auditing and Control, and was awarded to Ms Michelle Attard for her dissertation 'The Internal Audit and Risk Management Functions in Maltese Commercial Banks: An Analysis'.

The RSM Malta prize in Financial Management was awarded to Ms Amy Azzopardi for her dissertation 'Barriers to Setting Up a New Business in Malta: An Analysis'.

The External Auditing prize sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers was awarded to Ms Maria Roxanne Borg whose dissertation was 'The Influence of Non-Behavioural Factors in Auditor Switching in the Maltese Market'.

 

The other PwC prize was in Other – Public Sector, won by Mr Giljan Aquilina for his dissertation 'The Understandability of Annual Financial Statements in Maltese Local Councils'.

The Co-operative Societies prize sponsored by the Central Co-operative Fund, was awarded to Ms Elena Mariè Gatt for her dissertation 'The Major Barriers to the Development of Maltese Co-operatives: An Analysis'.

This year’s Nexia BT’s prize was awarded to Mr Brandon Farrugia for his dissertation 'Customer Profitability Analysis within the Remote Gaming Sector'.

Finally, the National Audit Office Public Sector Accounting and Auditing prize was won by Ms Martina Camilleri for her study on 'The Audit Expectation Gap in the Maltese Local Government'.

Six of the award winners Ms Amy Azzopardi, Ms Vanessa Borg, Ms Jessica Gatt, Mr Brandon Farrugia, Mr Giljan Aquilina and Mr Matthew Abela also presented an interesting synopsis of their studies to those present. As best student of the year Mr Matthew Buhagiar gave a synopsis of his rewarding experiences over his five-year stay at the University.

After the presentation of the awards, the Dean Professor Frank Bezzina was invited to give a speech, wherein he emphasised the significance of change in the accountancy profession being prepared to such change. Then Pro-Rector, Professor Godfrey Baldacchino gave the closing speech, speaking about the need for professionals, including accountancy graduates, to be held to account for what they do.