. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Dear colleagues,

At the beginning of my term as Chair of AGN Europe, I would like to thank John McCuin for his huge work for more than four years from 2002 to 2006.

Fortunately for all of us, it was decided that from now on, the European Chair would be of a duration of two years. John’s four-year commitment, performance and devotion to AGN will be made even more outstanding:

• John successfully achieved the merger between AGN and TAG with very few members leaving and many joining.
  
• He organised and structured the committees, bringing their number from 3 to 5, adding to the 3 existing ones: Audit (which he chaired), Tax, IT and two others -- Business Development and Membership Development.
  
• European restructuring, somewhat costly at the beginning, was completed and as John mentioned in his previous letter “value for money is what our members want and I believe we are delivering it now”.

I couldn’t put it better and I will endeavour not to improve on that as it would be presumptuous, but to pursue this line of conduct and remain open to the wishes and opinions of our members.

I would like also to thank the various committees and board members for their continuous devotion to AGN.

The Audit Committee still led by John McCuin continues quality control not only from a strictly technical point of view but also on a larger scope on the specific abilities of each of the members reviewed. This is one key to confidence and business.

The Tax Committee, led by Karl Horsburgh, is gathering information from various countries on different taxes and presenting it in tables in a very comparative and attractive way, resulting in potential business for the members.

The IT Committee, thanks to the continuous efforts of Manuel Satorra, set up the European website where all information concerning AGN can be found by members on the one hand and third parties on the other.

The Business Development Committee, led by Werner Kleinle, is gathering the synergies among members either in a specific field or possibly for EU opportunities, but always in a very cost effective way.

The Membership Development Committee, which I have the chance to shepherd, is a very good spot to recruit new members—especially from Eastern European countries—and also to meet many members and thus get better acquainted with AGN Europe associates.

Let me on this occasion thank Nick Blake, Penny Sivers and the London office for their enormous contribution to the recruitment of members and smooth dealing with membership.

The Budapest meeting in June 2006 was the most attended
with 120 participants including the “other halves”.
Twenty-six European countries were represented.

It was a very fortunate event that on the occasion of the 10th year of AGN International, the Budapest meeting in June 2006 was the most attended with 120 participants including the “other halves”. Twenty-six European countries were represented.

Old trains, heavy rains, horses, music and dancing were a part of the farewell dinner. We were also all grateful that Bill Moody, the International Chair, could join us from as far as Charleston, SC, USA, for this occasion.
Last, but not least, the European Board will have to elect two new members before the end of November.

As you all know, the next International meeting will be in Montreal in September 2006 and the next European meeting in 2007 in Athens.

When you read these lines, I guess we will all be back to work because the soccer world cup will have been won. Good luck to a European team.

Thank you for your support and see you in Montreal.

François Martin
Caderas Martin
Paris, France
francois.martin@caderas-martin.com

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

If you were in Budapest at the 2006 European Congress held on June 8 – 10, at Le Meridien Hotel, you will know that it was a great success. There were a record number of people and countries represented at this conference – nearly 120 people and 26 countries.

The Welcome Cocktail was held on the evening of Thursday June 8 in the hotel and was well attended, and enabled delegates and companions to re-acquaint themselves with colleagues and meet new delegates.

The conference was held over the next day and a half with a full programme that included three outside speakers. Peter Galambos, a Board member of the Chamber of Hungarian Auditors, welcomed everyone to Hungary. Jeremy Jennings of Ernst & Young did a presentation updating the attendees on the 8th Directive including Auditor Liability Forum and IFAC Code of Ethics: Network Definition and Jeroen Schweitz of IBFD did a presentation on the IBFD Tax Planning Programs for Value Added Tax & Corporate Tax. All the presentations can now be downloaded from the European website.

The European Regional committees updated the delegates on their activities and Manuel Satorra, as a representative of the Board, did a presentation on AGN Marketing Study Updates and SWOT Introduction. This subject was discussed by delegates in a round table forum and was followed by a feedback session.

During the meeting it was announced that John McCuin would be stepping down as Chair of the European Regional Board and that François Martin of Caderas Martin in Paris would be replacing him. As the new Chair, François closed the meeting at lunchtime on the Saturday.

A city tour of Budapest for delegates and companions took place in the afternoon and gave everyone the opportunity to relax and enjoy the history and dramatic architecture of the city. In the evening a visit to the offices of Consultatio KFT had been organized for a welcome cocktail, which gave the delegates and companions the opportunity to see their offices.

After this visit, everyone was taken by coach to the railway station at Ócsa to take a steam engine journey to the equestrian centre – Uj Tanyacsarda – at Lojosmizse.

The train journey ended “in the middle of nowhere” and horsedrawn carriages took all the delegates and companions to the equestrian centre. Three of the ladies were stolen by the Csikos (Guardians of the centre), but were safely re-united with everyone in time for the welcome drink.

There was a welcome drink and savoury pastry on arrival and then the equestrian show, followed by a traditional Hungarian meal with gypsy music and dances.

Photos courtesy of the EU intranet (Intranet/Current News/AGN European Congress 2006) Where users can find all the photos, download the presentations, etc.

Nowadays, it is the primary objective for any considerate company leader to boost the company performance, thus leading his or her business to success and prosperity.

Yet at the same time, the number of things that one is to be proficient in to do so grows day-by-day in a geometrical progression. Needless to say, it is next to impossible for one person to deal with all the financial, legal and administrative matters at once – and that is where the consulting companies step in to share the burden.

Still, however happy to share it the company leader might be, he or she never seizes to assess the reliability and stability of a newly-gained partner. So, the experience and the quality of the services provided are the key characteristics of consulting groups and companies, and are also the ones these enterprises pay special attention to.

ACG “ECFARD” has been in the audit and consulting business since 1997, and nowadays is considered to be one of the most dynamically growing Siberian companies.

The dynamics of our development can be traced easily throughout the Russian, and especially Siberian, audit and consulting majors’ ratings. Indeed, for the last several years, our company has been occupying the leading positions in them.

Leading Siberian Firm
For three years in a row, 2003 – 2005, it has been listed by “Expert RA” as one of the top 100 largest Russian audit and consulting companies. As for the Siberian companies’ ratings, the leading character of our position in the region is yet even more emphatic.

“ECFARD” was put into the 3rd and the 1st positions among the largest Siberian auditing companies in the ratings provided by “Expert RA” in 2005 and DSO Consulting in 2004, correspondently.

All the activities of the company are founded on Russian and international audit and valuation standards, as well as the Civil, Tax and Accounting Codes. These statutory acts served as a basis for development of the internal audit and valuation standards and tax audit and audit of books procedures used by the company.

ACG “ECFARD” is licensed by government to perform audit and valuation, engage into cartographic and geodesic activities and those connected with top-secret information usage, which certainly manifests not only the acknowledgement of the company’s professionalism and experience in its sphere of action, but the confidence and trust put in it as well.

“ECFARD” services and clients
As one may already guess, having seen the variety of licenses obtained, “ECFARD” offers to its customers quite a wide range of services. Among them there are obligatory and voluntary tax audit and audit of books conducts, clients’ taxation and accounting procedures development and refinement, fiscal guidance, legal advice, Microsoft Business Solutions Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system (AXAPTA) introduction, staff and organization audit, financial management of the enterprise, administration, valuation and reappraisal services, land-utilization and acres condition benefits, business merging and taking-over procedure optimization, intellectual property implication in economical activity of the enterprise.

Since we care about our clients’ comfort and value their time, all the legal counsel benefits mentioned are provided in a package. That includes preliminary counsel, pre-trial settlement of economic and fiscal disputes, administrative adjustment of public body variances, action proceedings in arbitration tribunals and courts of general jurisdiction up to the court of last resort until it rules in favor of the client.

We take special pride in the fact that our clients, among which there are such large-scale national corporations as JSC Russian Railways, CJSC TransTeleCom Company and RAO UES of Russia, return our feelings and remain loyal to our company, continuously turning to our assistance in various spheres.

Trained and experienced staff
The foundation for the company’s successive cooperation with the clients is the staff’s high level of skill and professional competence. There are 20 certified auditors in the staff, 20 employees have completed the Diploma in International Finance Reporting (Russia) – DipFR (Rus) ACCA training course.

There are also members of the staff who had qualified for the tax consultant certificates, stock exchange, off-budget funds, investment institutions auditing certificate, membership in the international Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

If you do a good job for others, you heal yourself
at the same time, because a dose of joy is a spiritual cure.
It transcends all barriers. —Ed Sullivan.

The experts employed by “ECFARD” are also attested with certificates of advanced training in administrative consulting, IT-sphere and jurisprudence.

“The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it,” Pearl S. Buck once said.

Right she was – excellence and quality are essential, and “ECFARD” has all the reasons to consider itself a company of quality. Its internal system of quality management was estimated high and warranted by the Professional Auditors Institution with Quality certificate of auditing benefits.

What is more, in June 2006, having completed the implementation and certification program of quality management system in valuation, financial audit, legal advice, financial and administrative consulting, our company has successfully gone through the DIN EN ISO 9001:2000 requirements conformance certification audit procedure.

To our opinion, this indeed is an acknowledgement of the excellent quality of the benefits provided by “ECFARD”.
One more detail in support of the fact that our company is rated among the first ones is its membership in professional associations, namely AGN International, “Professional Auditors Institution” uncommercial partnership, Economy and Administration in Russia Consultants Association, “Self-regulating Inter-regional Appraisers Association” uncommercial partnership, FIABCI International Real Estate Federation, “Russian Appraisers Society accredited valuation companies activity assistance partnership” uncommercial partnership. ACG “ECFARD” is also accredited in Russian Appraisers Society as a legal entity, engaged into providing valuation benefits on a professional basis.

So, to conclude, there is yet one more quotation, this time of Norman Macevan: ”Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

ACG “ECFARD” is always willing to share its quality, experience, competence, proficiency and excellence with its partners and clients – those, who might already be called old friends, as well as the new acquaintances. Should there be any questions, requests, propositions – it is always our pleasure to offer cooperation and assistance.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

AGN Daamen & van Sluis back to full strength.

After four years of politics, Wim van Sluis, partner in AGN Daamen & van Sluis, Netherlands, is back in business.

Wim has served the city of Rotterdam as vice mayor responsible for port, economics, labour and environment. During the past four years, his position mandated significant travel to almost all important port cities in the world, especially in the far east.

He privatised the Port Authority of Rotterdam and was responsible for the sale of the waste company of Rotterdam for the amount of 1.4 billion Euro to private equity.

In the last month, Wim has been appointed as non executive director of Dura Vermeer, a building company in the Netherlands, and of Steinweg Handelsveem, a port company with subsidiaries in Europe, South America and China.

Another appointment as chairman of Deltalinqs, representing the companies in the port and industrial area of Rotterdam, commences September 1.

After the holidays, Wim will be active as full partner again of AGN Daamen & van Sluis, specializing in port and industry.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ESTONI
IMG Konsultant AS
The firm was founded in 1996 and employs 20 , comprising of 3 partners, 13 professionals and 4 admin. staff. Located in Tallinn and Riga, the firm provides audit, taxation, accounting and consulting services. The Contact Partner is: Madis Valk

IMG Konsultant AS
City Plaza Floor 9
Tartu Mnt 2
10145 Tallinn
Estonia
Tel: (+372) 646 2050
Fax: (+372) 646 1153
E-mail: madis.valk@img.ee
URL: www.img.ee

GERMANY
SH+C Hempe Bumes Winkler GmbH
The firm was founded in 2004 and employs 12, comprising of 8 partners, 3 professionals and 1 admin. staff. Located in Regensburg, the firm provides audit, accounting, taxation and consulting services. The Contact Partner is: Richard Hempe

SH+C Hempe Bumes Winkler GmbH
Bahnofstrasse 1
93047 Regensburg
Germany
Tel: (+49 941) 586 130
Fax: (+49 941) 586 13 199
E-mail: RHempe@shc.de
URL: www.shc.de

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

VLADIMIR KOPUN
AGN is saddened to report the death of Vladimir Kopun on May 1, 2006. Vladimir was the senior partner and founder member of our member firm in Zagreb, Croatia.

Vladimir was an original member of AGN from 1996 and joined AGN thru the TAG International fusion in 2002 and was a member for a number of years of the European Regional Committee, which ensured the smooth entrance into AGN of the TAG member firms. Vladimir was always very supportive of AGN, attending both regional meetings and world congresses and was always a pleasure to talk with.

Vladimir and his wife Dubravka built up their accounting and consulting practice in a highly competitive environment and during a very difficult period in the history of Croatia. The firm recently celebrated its 15th anniversary and pictures of this event were carried in Worldwidelink.

He was highly respected and well liked in the local business environment.

He will be missed…….

: : Back to main page : :