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On the evening of Tuesday 2 April 2019, the Department of Accountancy, Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy held this year’s presentation of awards to the Master in Accountancy 2016/2018 graduate group at ‘Francis Ebejer Hall’, Lecture Theatre 2.

The Head of Department, Dr Peter J Baldacchino, made an introductory speech on the various developments of the Department during the past year. He also thanked all the sponsors for making the activity possible. The visiting lecturer Dr Suzana Grubnic, Senior Lecturer in Management Accounting and Director of Programme Quality from Loughborough University, gave a short speech on research methodologies.

Fifteen different awards were then announced by the Pro-Rector Professor Tanya Sammut Bonnici. Award winners were congratulated by the Pro-Rector and by the Dean Prof. Frank Bezzina and then presented the awards by the following sponsors: the Malta Institute of Accountants, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the National Audit Office, the Central Co-operative Fund, and seven international accountancy firms. Each award winner presented a copy of the study to the sponsor.

The Malta Institute of Accountants Best Student of the Year Prize was awarded by Mr William Spiteri Bailey, President, Malta Institute of Accountants to Mr Matthew Sciberras.

Mr Chris Naudi awarded the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) prize for the best dissertation to Ms Annette Gauci for his dissertation “Family Influence in Maltese Listed Companies: The Implications on Corporate Governance”.

The Auditor General, Mr Charles Deguara, presented the National Audit Office Award for Public Sector Accounting prize which was won by Mr Bernard Ellul for his study on, “Healthcare Systems in Europe and their Relevance to Malta: A Comparative Analysis”.

The Co-operative Societies prize sponsored by the Central Co-operative Fund was awarded to Ms Julia Portelli for her dissertation “The Tax Exemption for Maltese Co-operatives and its Implications: An Analysis”.

The RSM Malta prize in Financial Management was awarded to Ms Lisa Spiteri for her dissertation “Acquisitions Involving Gaming Companies Registered in Malta: An Analysis”.

Ms Corine Cassar and Ms Lara Gail Micallef won jointly the Deloitte prize for the best dissertation in Professional Issues in Accountancy for with their dissertations “Job Satisfaction and Labour Turnover of Public Sector Accountants and Auditors”, and “External Auditing as a Career in the Accountancy Profession: An Assessment”, respectively. The other Deloitte prize for best dissertation in Taxation, was won by Ms Jessica Anne Montebello for her dissertation “Modernising VAT Obligations for B2C E- Commerce in the Single Market”.

The KPMG prize in Internal Auditing and Control was won by Ms Jessica Briffa for her dissertation “The Internal Auditor’s Roles in the Prevention and Detection of Fraud”. The other KPMG prize was in Financial Accounting/Reporting, and was awarded to Ms Maria Zammit for her dissertation “Solvency II Pillar III Reporting: A Market, Audit and Regulatory Perspective”.

The Grant Thornton prize for Law related to Accountancy was awarded jointly to Ms Jade Micallef for her dissertation “The Implications of Introducing a Notional Interest Deduction: A Local Perspective”, and to Ms Marica Formosa for her dissertation “The Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive: Impact on Malta and its Tax System”.

This year EY awarded two prizes, one on Corporate Governance and one on Other Compliance Corporate Governance. The former was won by Ms Dorothea Cassar for her dissertation “A Study of Good Governance and Internal Controls in Malta Insurance Undertakings”, and the Other Compliance Corporate Governance Award was won by Ms Claire Vella for her dissertation “Non-Compliance to the Corporate Governance Code Provisions by Maltese Listed Companies”.

This year’s Nexia BT’s prize for Management Accounting was awarded jointly to Mr Gabriel Aquilina for his dissertation “An Evaluation of the Budgeting Process within Maltese Public Cultural Organisations”, and to Mr Owen Micallef for his dissertation “Data Analytics for Planning and Decision Making in Maltese Organisations: An Analysis”.

The Risk Management Award and prize sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers was awarded jointly to Ms Marisann Muscat whose dissertation was “An Analysis of Business Continuity Practices within Maltese Companies”, and to Ms Mignon Maurin for her dissertation “Red Flagging and its Effectiveness in Maltese Internal Audits”. The other PwC prize in External Auditing was won by Ms Sarah Frances Farrugia for her dissertation “An Analysis of Audit Fee Determinants in Maltese Non-Profit Organisations”

Seven of the award winners; Ms Lisa Spiteri, Ms Marica Formosa, Mr Bernard Ellul, Ms Claire Vella, Mr Owen Micallef, Ms Mignon Maurin and Ms Annette Gauci also presented an interesting synopsis of their studies to those present.

As Best Student of the Year Mr Matthew Sciberras gave a synopsis of his rewarding experiences over his five-year stay at the University.

After the presentation of the awards, Dean, Professor Frank Bezzina, gave a speech on the current developments in FEMA. Pro-Rector, Professor Tanya Sammut Bonnici gave the closing speech, summing up the gist of the graduates’ speeches and congratulating the awardees about the depth and the diversity of their studies.

All present where then invited for some refreshments.