Eighteen companies are vying for the inaugural Ram and McRae award to be given to the firm adjudged to have produced the most outstanding report for last year.
The announcement of the winner will be made next week Saturday, as Ram and Mc Rae’s hosts a dinner at the Marian Academy, as part of its 25th Anniversary Celebrations.
At a press conference held yesterday at the accounting firm’s Waterloo Street office, Rakesh Latchana, one of the partners in the firm, said that the committee is currently analyzing the reports of the various companies.
He said that the committee will then shortlist four companies before announcing the winner on July 31. The adjudicating committee is chaired by Quincy Bourne and comprises Paul Chan-a-Sue, FCA; Patrick Dial; Nigel Niles and Roubinder Rambarran.
Explaining how the companies were selected, Latchana said that reports were sought from public companies, banks, insurance companies, government entities and other enterprises which were of interest to the public. He said the 18 were selected based on the availability of the report. According to him several entities, especially government-owned companies, had not yet published their 2009 report and hence could not be considered.
The entities shortlisted are Banks DIH Limited, Caribbean Container Inc., Citizens Bank Guyana Inc., Demerara Bank Ltd, Demerara Distillers Limited, Demerara Tobacco Company Ltd., Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry Ltd, Guyana Manufactur-ing and Services Association Ltd, Guyana Stockfeeds Inc., Hand-in-Hand Mutual Life Assurance Company Ltd., J.P. Santos and Company Ltd., the Private Sector Commission of Guyana Ltd., Republic Bank (Guyana) Ltd. Sterling Products Limited, The Demerara Mutual Life Assurance Society Ltd., The Guyana & Trinidad Mutual Fire Insurance Company Ltd., The Guyana & Trinidad Mutual Life Insurance Company Ltd and the New Building Society Ltd.
Of these companies Ram and McRae has audited the statements of two enterprises: Republic Bank (Guyana) Ltd and the Private Sector Commission of Guyana Ltd. It has also audited a subsidiary of the Demerara Mutual Life Assurance Society Ltd.
Latchana stressed that the fact that this company had audited the statements of some of the companies would have no bearing on the selection process, since the committee was an independent one. It was also disclosed that the panellists are not being paid for their work. The criteria being used to decide on the winner is: “accessibility and timeliness of reporting”, “adequacy of discussion and analysis”, “compliance with accounting standards”, “compliance with regulatory requirements”, “corporate governance disclosures”, “physical appearance” and “social responsibility and sustainability comments”. The award was first announced last October.
On that occasion it was said that the initiative was aimed at improving accounting and auditing standards in the longer term.
Yesterday Latchana said that his firm hoped that the award would help to promote good corporate governance in the country.
