Biennial Conference
ABAF Biennial Conference 21st & 22nd September 2007
Is the World still our oyster ?
Our Association held its third biennial residential conference at the lakeside venue of Enghien-les-Bains close to Paris. The fine September sunshine allowed us to enjoy good views of the lake while enjoying refreshments on the hotel terrace. A large-screen viewing of the Rugby World Cup match between France and Ireland followed the gourmet dinner on the Friday evening and regardless of the result this provided a good opportunity for our members to socialise. Also the nearby casino attracted some late evening attendees who wished to try their luck.
From a professional viewpoint, the conference centred round the theme “Is the world still our oyster?” On the first day this was approached by an enlightening introduction on “The changing role of the finance director” given by Jeremy Rickman of Russell Reynolds Associates, Head of European Financial Officers Practice, followed by a presentation of the “Emerging markets – China and India” from Richard Herd, Head of the Asia non-members unit in the OECD Economics Department. The second day opened with stimulating talk on “Cross-border mergers and acquisitions” by Lionel Young, Head of UK Corporate Transactions Services, Deloitte & Touche LLP and closed with a vibrant broad approach to the conference theme by the President of the ICAEW, Richard Dyson. All participants were given a USB key containing the presentations of all our speakers and this was kindly provided by EXACT software.
We are thankful to all our speakers for their participation and to KPMG who sponsored this event. It was generally agreed to be the best conference attendance so far (some 60 members and guests) and that this successful event should be continued in two years time at the same location.
Nicholas L. E. ROLT
Secretary
October 2007
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Held the second Wednesday every month. This is a regular networking event hosted by Jonathan Cooper of The Spectrum IFA Group, in conjunction with the Franco British Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Institute of Directors, the Association of British Accountants in France, the Department for International Trade, France, the British Council, and the Standard Athletic Club. If you are interested, please contact Edwina at edwina@thebizlunch.com