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With 2023 on the horizon, and new committees being elected in November, why not get involved with your regional society? Grace Tighe highlights the benefits of being part of this tight-knit community As 2022 draws to a close, we look forward to a new year and term for Chartered Accountants Student Societies Ireland (CASSI) regional committees.  In November, CASSI will host regional annual general meetings to elect new committees for 2023. Positions that will be up for grabs vary from Treasurer to Public Relations Officer to Events Officer.  Now is the time to join your regional committee as an ordinary member and maybe move your way up through the ranks over your course to membership.  However, if that doesn't interest you, there are still many great reasons to get involved in a CASSI regional society.  It's fun The main reason to join CASSI is the fun!  CASSI will allow you to meet new people and try new things. Speaking from personal experience, the CASSI weekend away is one of the year's best events. Being involved in a regional society means you are guaranteed a ticket and can get involved in the organisation of the weekend.  Many other social events, such as team dinners, bowling nights, regional balls and seasonal events, happen every year. They are a great way of making new friends and bonding with your regional team. Enhance your CV Employers are looking for people with transferable skills like communication and teamwork. CASSI is the perfect way to improve your leadership abilities, communication skills, collaboration, and confidence.  There's no better way to impress an employer than to show you're willing to get involved, work hard and gain skills outside the workplace.   Every regional society has a team of executives that help organise events, look after their social media, manage finances, and ensure the regional society runs smoothly. Getting into one of these positions is a great way to build experience for your CV.  For example, if you're looking at getting into marketing or pivoting roles after your training contract, being the Public Relations Officer for a CASSI regional division is a great way to start. Networking CASSI provides ample opportunities to interact with peers and foster healthy relationships. Meeting people who share your interests widens your social network beyond your course.  CASSI can also be a fantastic platform to meet potential employers by participating in networking events. These connections will be invaluable for you in your future career.  Finally, you will have the opportunity to meet with various people in the Institute who will guide you on your path to membership and beyond.  Diversity In many cases, CASSI regional committees are made up of diverse groups of students who happen to share a common interest. You can meet different types of people through CASSI – perhaps even a more diverse set of people than you would have previously worked or interacted with. Enrichment Being a part of CASSI helps you to gain knowledge, skills and experience in leadership, communication, problem-solving, group development and management, finance, presentation, and public speaking. By becoming a member of CASSI, you will also have an input into decisions that will affect you and other students directly along your path to becoming an ACA.  Keep an eye out on the CASSI social media accounts and your inbox for details of when the regional AGMs will be happening. We look forward to seeing you there! Grace Tighe is the Chair of CASSI  

In the last issue of The Bottom Line, Fiona Smiddy spoke to us about what she was expecting from the One Young World Summit in Manchester. Now, she tells us about what she experienced and her plans for the future. The One Young World (OYW) Summit opening ceremony was a colourful introduction to the days ahead. We were treated to a flag-bearing ceremony, where over 200 flags were paraded on stage. These represented the 2000-plus delegates and ambassadors attending the summit in person and virtually. Significantly, the first flag was that of the Refugee Nation (a symbolic initiation to unite refugees across the globe). The packed auditorium was on its feet, clapping to show support, and understanding that war, oppression, natural disasters, and climate change are daily adding to the numbers represented by this flag. It was fitting, then, that the keynote speeches focused on the importance of leadership in a challenging world. Former Irish President, Mary Robinson, spoke of the growing divide in the world between autocratic and democratic leadership, noting the need for transformative leadership to motivate and inspire in the face of global challenges, and calling on the young leaders in the room to imagine a world without the fumes of fossil fuels, clean cities, rewilded countryside and equal access to clean energy and clean jobs. In the end, Robinson asked an important question: “What if our best world is still ahead of us?” Sir Bob Geldof echoed the call for the young people in the room to emerge as new leaders across society and in business to replace some of the “creeps” currently in leadership roles. Even with their differing speaking styles, the tone had been set for the week: the global challenges are clear, but can we rise to answer them? Young leaders in action Over the next few days, we heard inspirational talks and participated in workshops and action sessions with opportunities to share ideas and solutions for various global issues. Ambitious leaders shared heartfelt stories and expressed their commitment to action on a local, national and international level. Dr Caroline McGroary, a Chartered Accountant and 2020/21’s Chartered Star, and I co-delivered a workshop in conjunction with Chartered Accountants Worldwide, Financial Literacy as an enabler of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. I spoke to attendees about ‘The Power in Our Pocket’ and how we can change the world by engaging with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and attendees were asked to reflect on what they heard and voice where they could pledge to act in their local communities to improve financial literacy, particularly among at-risk groups. One area participants were encouraged to get involved in was the FinBiz2030 taskforces, a joint initiative between One Young World and Chartered Accountants Worldwide, which aims to establish an active and engaged finance and business community globally dedicated to achieving the UN SDGs. Representing One Young World Over the four days, the emphasis that the OYW Summit should act as a catalyst for OYW ambassadors to become changemakers was continually reinforced. Although most attendees are already actively working either in their jobs or in a voluntary capacity towards positive social or climate change, we were asked to do more. Inspired by the time I spent at OYW and meeting with the other Chartered Accountants Worldwide delegates from the UK, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, I feel passionate about further utilising my ACA accreditation to leave a lasting impact on our world. Thank you, Chartered Accountants Ireland, for this opportunity to attend One Young World 2022. I am proud to be part of such a brilliant community and profession championing positive change. I look forward to seeing the build-up to One Young World 2023 in Belfast. Fiona Smiddy ACA is Chartered Accountant Ireland’s 2022 Chartered Star and founder of Green Outlook

Training to be a Chartered Accountant can sometimes be overwhelming, but that feeling can be mitigated with the help of the fellow trainees you meet through the student societies, says CASSM Chair, Sarah Byrne-Brown Deciding to become a Chartered Accountant and dedicating several years to study, exams and work can be a daunting, yet exciting, time.  These feelings can be exacerbated by going on this journey alone with no one to share the experience. This is especially true for those who are not part of a training firm. Further, since the courses have gone digital, there is a social disconnect: no physical lectures means no bumping into people who are on your course or seeing those you may know from previous education or work.  While the digital world has many advantages, it does mean that connecting and networking with your peers has become much harder. This is where the importance of student societies comes into play. These student committees around the country serve to bring people together, especially those who don’t have a solid support network nearby. For example, those living in bigger cities and towns have a greater opportunity to network and build relationships. But what about those living in smaller, rural areas? They also need support, especially as many trainees are working hybrid – away from their mentors and fellow trainees. This is why CASSM (and the other regional student societies) is so important for those who live in the Midlands – Longford, Westmeath and Roscommon. The society is a hub for those who are located more rurally, bringing us closer together and providing a study and training support system.  The student societies offer a place for people to come to events – in person and online – and connect with people who are going through the same experiences, having fun together and creating a professional network they wouldn’t have otherwise found.  If you are feeling disconnected during your studies, get in touch with your local student society today and find out what’s on offer in terms of networking and events.

Grace Tighe, CASSI Chairperson, explains the group’s three pillars and how they will underpin the future of CASSI.  As the pandemic restrictions lift and many Chartered Accountants Ireland students start to see the light at the end of the busy season tunnel, we are looking forward to what will come in the summer months.  With the new year has come a new CASSI Committee, elected on Wednesday 16 February. Working as Education Officer for the past year, I was delighted to be voted in as chairperson for the coming term. During the AGM, previous officers passed advice, tips and tricks to the newly elected committee members to set them up for the year ahead.  A new committee means a new set of goals and ideas. As a committee, we discussed how we would best like to support and help Chartered Accountants Ireland students in 2022. In doing so, we established three pillars to underpin all of our activities: diversity and inclusion, One CASSI and the future of work and study.  Diversity and inclusion In the coming year, CASSI would like all members to feel represented and will ensure that the contributions and perspectives of different groups are valued and celebrated. We are working with the Institute’s new LGBTQ+ network, ‘Balance’, to bring greater awareness and promotion of LGBTQ+ inclusion across the student body.  One CASSI Our One CASSI pillar focuses on ensuring all students, regardless of location or entry method, have a chance to engage in CASSI events and meet fellow members. This year, the society is looking forward to organising many more in-person events due to the removal of restrictions.  A big focus of the committee this year is the CASSI weekend away. This event brings students from all regional societies together. From tales of times past, it is always a great weekend.  Future of work and study Our final pillar for the CASSI society of 2022/23 is the future of work and study. This pillar focuses on supporting students in educational delivery and examinations as they navigate the world of online learning.  Over the past two years, the online delivery of educational material has enabled students to have more control over when and how they study. However, as with most things, the element of face-to-face social interaction with peers has been missing for the past two years. This is something the society and the Institute are working on reviving.   CASSI will continue to work with Barden, the group’s sponsor, to host webinars, one-to-one sessions and some in-person events aimed at helping students plot out the next phase of their career and equipping them with the knowledge and tools needed to take their next steps after their training contract.  As always, the CASSI Committee is here to support and help students in any way we can. Please reach out to us on our social media channels.

To keep up with the criminals who funnel illicit money through legitimate banks, financial institutions need to do more by embracing new technologies, collaborating and communicating. Deirdre Carwood and Laura Wadding explain.   As criminals become increasingly sophisticated, they find new ways to channel illicit money through legitimate banks. They’re managing to stay one step ahead of the industry in the process. This has a potentially significant impact on Ireland, given its role as a dynamic international financial services hub: a leading player for wholesale banks and investment funds, and part of a heavily intermediated international financial landscape.  Over the past two decades, financial institutions based in Ireland have spent a lot of time raising their standards to comply with increasing anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, keeping customer documentation up to date, and remediating issues as they arise. Every year, financial institutions invest a large proportion of their costs into maintaining this regulatory compliance – but simply complying with regulations doesn’t prevent a bank from becoming a victim of crime. And the fight against financial crime has become fully digital, following the changed working models after COVID-19 leading to an accelerated shift towards fully digital environments.  But have the banks’ systems kept pace? Are their internal control frameworks strong enough to track suspicious data points and highlight transactions that seem out of the ordinary? A human employee could compare a passport photo with the person standing before them waiting to make a deposit in the physical world. Face-to-face contact and human interaction have been very effective in identifying suspicious activity in the past.  However, we rely on algorithms to spot that activity and mark it as unusual in the digital world. For example, if an account with regular monthly lodgements of €10,000 suddenly has deposits of €150,000 at a time, that’s a potential red flag. This kind of detection technology can be costly, and large financial institutions can be slow to adapt.  Another way for financial institutions to detect potential illicit financial flows and identify emerging trends in criminal activity is through information sharing. However, the data-sharing forums currently in place are not fit for purpose, and they need to be much broader in scope for today’s digital world.  Retail banks, fintechs, regulators, accountancy practices, legal firms and law enforcement all have discussion forums, but there is no single central utility gathering information, detecting patterns and developing typologies of illicit finance activity.  This matters for two reasons: first, without a unified forum, the lack of up-to-date near-real-time sharing of information between all stakeholders is causing delays in investigating suspicious sources of money.  Secondly, it is difficult to measure the cost of financial crime, specifically illicit finance, to the industry and the economy. In an Irish context, when the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau reports instances of financial crime to the Central Statistics Office, this tends to appear as one number, meaning there is no breakdown of illicit finance. Similarly, financial institutions may be obliged to report issues around illicit finance to the Central Bank of Ireland; still, there is no aggregate data shared in the appropriate circles.  But if data can help the fight against financial crime, it can also be a potential hindrance. Under the General Data Protection Regulation, organisations are only entitled to collect the information they need to retain based on the business requirements. The more personal information a bank holds about its customers, the greater their obligations are from a data protection perspective. This is a tricky balancing act: how far should a bank go to demonstrate that it knows who its customers are? The delicate line between adequately addressing the threat of illicit finance and respecting the individual’s right to data privacy is set to remain a vital issue. Deirdre Carwood is Partner of Financial Advisory at Deloitte. Laura Wadding is Partner of Risk Advisory at Deloitte. Five steps to collectively tackle illicit finance  The ecosystem should take five critical steps in response to the threat. 1. Improve alignment  A greater alignment of preventative effort across the public and private sector, concentrating on high-value activities, is paramount. This should include better sharing of information and intelligence, such as emerging typologies and tactical data sets, which would sharpen the regulated sector’s ability to identify suspicious activity. Anecdotally, some banks report that as little as 1% of transaction-monitoring alerts identify information that warrants reporting to national intelligence authorities, suggesting significant effort and capacity in the system is arrayed against activity that does not lead to outcomes.  2. Renew the focus on effectiveness  In some cases, legislative and regulatory frameworks or their interpretation inhibit the ability to align resources to where it’s needed most. It is essential that financial crime risk management frameworks are implemented by organisations and regulated to prioritise the effective delivery of outcomes rather than focusing on technical compliance as an end in itself. There are encouraging signs that innovative approaches are being considered and progress is being made, such as within the Deloitte US’s recent consultation on enhancing the effectiveness of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) programmes.  3. Increase collaboration  The adage “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” is undoubtedly true of the illicit finance regime. Improved collaboration could also enable global public sectors to leverage the capacity and capabilities of the private sector to help drive a more disruptive agenda and secure better outcomes. As an example, international law enforcement could look to the approach taken by the US Department of the Treasury and Department of Justice (DoJ). The DoJ has worked with the private sector for the best part of a decade, bringing in forensic accountants, open-source intelligence analysts and more, which has enabled them to make a dramatic step-change in the seizure of criminal assets.  4. Embrace new technologies  While the proliferation of emerging technologies, including new payment platforms, cryptocurrencies, and Digital ID, represents criminal opportunity, it also opens the ecosystem to start designing out vulnerabilities. Emerging analytics and encryption technologies will allow us to “see more” in data and enable new kinds of data sharing in compliance with overarching privacy principles.  5. Make broader connections  Illicit finance requires all sectors to play a strong and active role. This goes beyond financial services, governments and law enforcement. Social media, internet service providers, and telecommunication companies within the global corporate sector can all be vectors through which fraudsters access their victims. All have a preventative role to play. The challenge is significant and requires considerable reform of the current system. However, we know that everyone involved wants the same outcome: preventing crime, protecting citizens and customers, and disrupting criminals. For leaders in both governments and industry, the task is to harness their shared ambition and go on this transformational journey together.

The cautiously optimistic Budget 2022 was announced by the Minister for Finance in October. Maud Clear, Tax Manager at Chartered Accountants Ireland, outlines what you should know. Budget 2022 marked the first budget in almost a quarter of a century where Ireland’s commitment to its coveted 12.5% corporation tax rate could not be stated, but only for those with global consolidated revenues exceeding €750 million. The uncertainty within the Irish corporation tax base brought about by international tax reform has drawn greater focus to the growth of domestic business.    The Minister for Finance framed his Budget Day speech in a tone of cautious optimism, noting the need to “always prepare for the worst, while striving for the best”. This followed substantial improvements to the country’s estimated deficit for 2021 and 2022 in the days before 12 October, and the reality of rising inflationary pressures and a national debt of €50,000 for every person in the country.  Employment The Minister announced the indexing of income tax bands, and a number of tax credit increases in an effort to address the increased living costs. This is a welcome measure not only for employees, but also employers seeking to attract and retain talented employees. Further welcome developments for employers include the extension of the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme until April 2022, with certainty being provided over the subsidy rate payable and when the reduced rate of employer’s PRSI will change. On that topic, a general point of discussion was the potential for increases in employer’s PRSI to be forthcoming in the Budget in light of a significant deficit in the social insurance fund. The Government’s cost benefit analysis has obviously recognised the CCAB-I’s assertions that employer’s PRSI increase are prohibitive to job creation and no changes were announced in this area. Budget 2022 also provides increased relief for 30% of electricity, heating and broadband costs incurred while working from home. The success of this measure will be determined by how accessible taxpayers find the claims process.   Supporting entrepreneurs Described as the “backbone of our domestic economy”, entrepreneurs and the wider business community were accredited with creating and supporting employment. In an effort to support SMEs, the Government announced the extension and improvement of the Employment Investment Incentive (EII) scheme to entice investment in a company’s start-up years. The EII scheme is a well-intentioned relief, with employment creation at its focus; however, the impact of EU law has seen the number of qualifying companies falling to just 37 in 2018. The corporation tax relief for certain start-up companies under section 486C TCA 1997 will now be available for up to five years, instead of the current three years. The current estimated average cost of this relief per job supported is €384, so there is value in expanding the relief relative to the cost of providing unemployment supports.  A tax credit for the digital gaming sector was also announced in an effort to create employment, as Irish growth in this area lags behind global trends. A corporation tax credit at a rate of 32% will be available on eligible expenditure of up to €25 million on the design, production and testing of each digital gaming project. This credit is being introduced subject to a commencement order, as European State aid approval is required.  The policy aims of each of these announcements is quite clear. It remains to be seen whether administrative complexities prove to be a barrier to access.   Greening the tax system There were a number of measures announced by the Government in the drive to further decarbonise the economy and meet Ireland’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 7% next year. These included a €7.50 increase in the rate of carbon tax per tonne of CO2, amendments to accelerated capital allowances schemes, as well as an extension of the BIK exemption on electric vehicles until 2025, albeit for reduced values.  While the direction of these policy measures is seen as positive, there is a general feeling of missed opportunity among a business community with sustainability at the top of its agenda. Ireland’s enterprise sector accounts for over 13% of the economy’s total emissions, and Budget 2022 does very little to incentivise those businesses in helping to achieve annual emissions reductions the Government has committed to over the next decade.  Green tax policy must do more to mobilise business in making a meaningful dent in carbon emissions. International tax reform Budget 2022 confirmed the well-signalled introduction of new interest limitation rules and amendments to the anti-hybrid rules in line with the EU anti-tax avoidance Directive. The legislation for both has been set out in the Finance Bill, following a series of public consultations and stakeholder input. The interest limitation rule will restrict a company’s net borrowing costs, but Budget documents indicate that these rules will not be revenue raising. A de minimis threshold will apply where net interest deductions are below €3 million. The introduction of the new 15% minimum effective tax rate was discussed by the Minister in his Budget Day speech. He notes that this rate will still be less than many of our key competitors but gives little consideration to the impact of the allocation of profits to market jurisdictions. The Parliamentary Budget Office has raised concerns over the projected €2 billion impact of these measures, describing it as “a very uncertain estimate”.  The pace at which international tax reform is taking place suggests that Budget 2023 could include details on the design of the OECD’s two pillar plan in Irish tax law.