Presentation of Accountancy Awards 1999 In recent years, the presentation of awards to students for outstanding performance has become an annual feature on the Department of Accountancy's calendar. Along with Banking & Finance, Economics, Management, Marketing and Public Policy it makes up the University's Business Faculty of Economics, Management & Accountancy, known on campus as FEMA.

The first such ceremony was held five years ago and consisted of an award sponsored by The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).  Over the years, more and more sponsors have come forward to award prizes in various fields. This year's CIMA Prize was awarded to Susan Domancich for her dissertation on Theory of Constraints; the award in the field of Taxation presented by Deloitte & Touche went to Donald Schembri whose dissertation was entitled Tax Implications of Global Electronic Commerce from a Maltese Perspective while Sharon Finn who wrote on The Internal-External Audit Relationship in Selected Companies won the PricewaterhouseCoopers Prize in the field of Auditing.  Awards by K.P.M.G. for the best student in Financial Accounting and Grant Thornton for research in the law area relating to accounting went to Lauren Galea and Christine Sciberras respectively. Christine's Evaluation of the Incentives for Industrial Development in the Light of the Specific Needs of Manufacturing SME'S was particularly pertinent. Ryan Sciberras won The Student of the Year prize awarded by the Malta Institute of Accountants and also received the Arthur Anderson Award in Finance for his dissertation on Treasury Bills and their Corporate use in Malta.

The Rector, Professor Roger Ellul-Micallef presented the awards.  In congratulating the students, he stated that the University welcomes this kind of input from private firms and such cooperation exists in several fields. The University is geared towards the infrastructural and industrial needs of the country so as to provide expertise in crucial fields yet whilst accepting that universities do not exist simply to impart job skills, it should be concerned with the employability of its graduates.  The interest shown by private firms such as those sponsoring the evening's awards as well as by industry as prospective employers of University graduates is all part of a mutually beneficial relationship.

Professor Daniel Darmanin, Head of the Department of Accountancy and Dean of FEMA thanked the representatives of the various firms and Institutes who were present and augured that there would be greater collaboration between the University and private industry. He emphasised the importance of maintaining and improving academic standards in order to produce the right calibre of personnel for our industry. The knowledge that their efforts would be rewarded also provided an incentive for students to strive for excellence in their chosen field.

25 February, 1999