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ME PoV Winter 2022 issue

An ounce of prevention

   

An ounce of prevention

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About this issue

In 1736, Benjamin Franklin famously said the words, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” to fire-threatened Philadelphians, words that would resonate for centuries to come. At the present time, as we make our way through a world that is vigorously developing by the second, this famous axiom by Mr. Franklin couldn’t be any more relevant. While our lives have evidently become more efficient in our super digitalized world of today, they have also become rather complex; complex in the sense that there are countless ways to be challenged or even attacked and hence, the necessity to protect ourselves on every level and within every aspect. And while we, collectively as humans, cannot possibly prevent every peril in our path, we can definitely prepare to reduce some of the potential adverse effects through forward planning.

In the article Sealing the deal: COP27 reaches significant agreement on the Loss and Damage Fund, author Damian Regan describes how COP27 will surely be remembered for the creation of this fund, a potential historic breakthrough that offers a vital step forward in sharing the burden of climate challenges ahead. Author Mark Millard presents the article entitled Forensic investigations of tomorrow: What does the future hold? which explains how one of the great skills in any business or profession is the ability to gaze into the future and spot the next “big thing.” Forensic investigations are no different as experts try to anticipate what types of upskilling will be needed to capitalize on tomorrow’s opportunities. In Risky business: Managing risks in the dynamic digital era authors Ziad El Haddad, Daniel Brierley, and Rabih El Sabaa reflect on how today’s organizations are racing to cope with rapid change, increasing data volumes, and a desire to leverage data to deliver business goals. Since planning ahead is always the smart way to go, the article The new United Arab Emirates Transfer Pricing regime: Plan, prepare, and prosper by Mohamed Serokh, Rabia Gandapur, Ahmet Celiktas, and George German thoroughly covers how the developments in relation to Transfer Pricing in the UAE have far-reaching tax and non-tax/operational implications for affected businesses and how it’s safe to say that companies should start assessing the impact for their business and what they need do to be prepared given the complexity of the rules. In The need of the hour: Stepping-up counter fraud controls in the banking sector written by Saad Qureshi and Humaid Hussain, the authors offer us a glimpse into not only how financial fraud has had a dramatic surge in the region post-pandemic, but also how authorities have to introduce particular measures to enhance counter fraud controls.

Authors Steve Punch and Syed Moid discuss the corporate treasury world in their article ACE-ing digital transformation efforts in corporate treasury: Opportunities, challenges, and benefits. They describe how digital transformation is a journey that extends beyond the mere adoption of technology, and how to achieve full gains from transformation efforts, an organization much take a holistic view and adopt an incremental development plan.

In A "taxing" situation: The evolution and impact of OECD driven Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan from a GCC perspective by Abi Man Joshi, we learn how due to globalization and the digitalization of economy, it is important for all government authorities and international organizations to address the issue of double taxation, profit shifting, and tax evasion.  

Keeping up with Internal Controls: Zeroing in on the Middle East by James Smith and Aderita von Glahn covers how over the last few years, several Middle East regulators have introduced regulatory mandates aimed at strengthening internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) in the region. The trend looks set to continue, with further activity in the UAE suggesting a wider range of organizations soon to be required to meet ICFR requirements.

And finally, in A bird’s eye view: Earth observations for environmental reporting, David Merren describes how data gathered from space-borne sensors has long been used to calculate the degradation of natural landscapes, but now powerful machine learning techniques combined with data gathered from space-borne sensors are forging a path to more robust and resilient data collection and interpretation for monitoring positive interventions.

We hope you enjoy reading the final Deloitte Middle East PoV of the year, and look forward to bringing you new and exciting topics in 2023.

ME PoV editorial team


Forensic investigations of tomorrow

One of the great skills in any business or profession is the ability to gaze into the future and spot the next “big thing.” Forensic investigations are no different as experts try to anticipate what types of upskilling will be needed to capitalize on tomorrow’s opportunities. The following are five new areas where substantial forensic investigations work is likely to arise.


A bird’s eye view

The landscape and criticality of environmental impact reporting is changing, and yet the same methodologies and data collection techniques are repeatedly used. This is leading to a perceived lack of confidence in some of the figures, as well as reduced confidence in the overall impact of large-scale environmental programs, and the effect will not be felt for decades to come.


Sealing the deal

In November 2022, over 45,000 individuals attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt, an annual gathering of countries seeking to tackle the global challenge of climate change. Over the last few years, a key focus of these conferences has been to drive forward policy related to limiting global warming to well below 2 ℃ compared to pre-industrial levels.


Risky business

Today’s organizations are racing to cope with rapid change, increasing data volumes, and a desire to leverage data, to deliver business goals. In order to remain competitive, organizations are embarking on digital transformation journeys which are revolutionizing systems, processes, and teams through the implementation of analytics, robotics, and automation.


The new United Arab Emirates Transfer Pricing regime

On 31 January 2022, the Ministry of Finance of the United Arab Emirates announced that the UAE will introduce a Federal Corporate Tax on business profits that will be effective for financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023. On 28 April 2022, a Public Consultation Document was published with more detailed information on the proposed UAE CT regime with the intention of seeking views from interested parties and stakeholders before implementation.


The need of the hour

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries’ economic recovery since the peak of the pandemic in 2020 has been remarkable; it has been so convincing that their economies were projected to have grown at their fastest pace in more than a decade in 2022.1 The flurry of economic activity also resulted in increased financial fraud (FF), specifically in the financial services sector.


A "taxing" situation

As international tax rules were written decades ago, there have been fundamental changes in the global landscape due to globalization and digitalization of economy. Hence, it is important for all government authorities and international organizations to address the issue of double taxation, profit shifting, and tax evasion.


Keeping up with Internal Controls

Since 2018, several Middle East regulators have introduced regulatory mandates aimed at strengthening internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) in the region. The trend looks set to continue, with further activity in the UAE suggesting a wider range of organizations soon to be required to meet ICFR requirements.


ACE-ing digital transformation efforts in corporate treasury

To catch up with the rapidly growing demands of the way modern corporate treasuries work, organizations need to ‘ACE’ the competition. Deloitte defines the ACE approach as: automation, centralization and efficiency. This approach will empower corporate treasury departments to ACE their transformation efforts and achieve sustained growth.

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