看这里！ACCA考试科目总共分为几个阶段？

1 The board of Worldwide Minerals (WM) was meeting for the last monthly meeting before the publication of the yearend

results. There were two points of discussion on the agenda. First was the discussion of the year-end results;

second was the crucial latest minerals reserves report.

WM is a large listed multinational company that deals with natural minerals that are extracted from the ground,

processed and sold to a wide range of industrial and construction companies. In order to maintain a consistent supply

of minerals into its principal markets, an essential part of WM’s business strategy is the seeking out of new sources

and the measurement of known reserves. Investment analysts have often pointed out that WM’s value rests principally

upon the accuracy of its reserve reports as these are the best indicators of future cash flows and earnings. In order to

support this key part of its strategy, WM has a large and well-funded geological survey department which, according

to the company website, contains ‘some of the world’s best geologists and minerals scientists’. In its investor relations

literature, the company claims that:

‘our experts search the earth for mineral reserves and once located, they are carefully measured so that the company

can always report on known reserves. This knowledge underpins market confidence and keeps our customers

supplied with the inventory they need. You can trust our reserve reports – our reputation depends on it!’

At the board meeting, the head of the geological survey department, Ranjana Tyler, reported that there was a problem

with the latest report because one of the major reserve figures had recently been found to be wrong. The mineral in

question, mallerite, was WM’s largest mineral in volume terms and Ranjana explained that the mallerite reserves in

a deep mine in a certain part of the world had been significantly overestimated. She explained that, based on the

interim minerals report, the stock market analysts were expecting WM to announce known mallerite reserves of

4·8 billion tonnes. The actual figure was closer to 2·4 billion tonnes. It was agreed that this difference was sufficient

to affect WM’s market value, despite the otherwise good results for the past year. Vanda Monroe, the finance director,

said that the share price reflects market confidence in future earnings. She said that an announcement of an incorrect

estimation like that for mallerite would cause a reduction in share value. More importantly for WM itself, however, it

could undermine confidence in the geological survey department. All agreed that as this was strategically important

for the company, it was a top priority to deal with this problem.

Ranjana explained how the situation had arisen. The major mallerite mine was in a country new to WM’s operations.

The WM engineer at the mine said it was difficult to deal with some local people because, according to the engineer,

‘they didn’t like to give us bad news’. The engineer explained that when the mine was found to be smaller than

originally thought, he was not told until it was too late to reduce the price paid for the mine. This was embarrassing

and it was agreed that it would affect market confidence in WM if it was made public.

The board discussed the options open to it. The chairman, who was also a qualified accountant, was Tim Blake. He

began by expressing serious concern about the overestimation and then invited the board to express views freely. Gary

Howells, the operations director, said that because disclosing the error to the market would be so damaging, it might

be best to keep it a secret and hope that new reserves can be found in the near future that will make up for the

shortfall. He said that it was unlikely that this concealment would be found out as shareholders trusted WM and they

had many years of good investor relations to draw on. Vanda Monroe, the finance director, reminded the board that

the company was bound to certain standards of truthfulness and transparency by its stock market listing. She pointed

out that they were constrained by codes of governance and ethics by the stock market and that colleagues should be

aware that WM would be in technical breach of these if the incorrect estimation was concealed from investors. Finally,

Martin Chan, the human resources director, said that the error should be disclosed to the investors because he would

not want to be deceived if he were an outside investor in the company. He argued that whatever the governance codes

said and whatever the cost in terms of reputation and market value, WM should admit its error and cope with

whatever consequences arose. The WM board contains three non-executive directors and their views were also

invited.

At the preliminary results presentation some time later, one analyst, Christina Gonzales, who had become aware of

the mallerite problem, asked about internal audit and control systems, and whether they were adequate in such a

reserve-sensitive industry. WM’s chairman, Tim Blake, said that he intended to write a letter to all investors and

analysts in the light of the mallerite problem which he hoped would address some of the issues that Miss Gonzales

had raised.

Required:

(a) Define ‘transparency’ and evaluate its importance as an underlying principle in corporate governance and in

relevant and reliable financial reporting. Your answer should refer to the case as appropriate. (10 marks)

2 John Dixon is the recently appointed Chief of Police for a major city in the UK. He has inherited a major problem in

that its residents are very concerned with various forms of antisocial behaviour and minor crimes carried out by a

small number of people, which makes living, working, travelling and socialising in the city centre unpleasant rather

than life threatening. The city’s residents have recently voted for it being one of the five worst cities in the UK in which

to live. There is little or no contact between the police and these residents.

The city is split into a number of police districts, each with its own senior officer in charge. Their focus is on the

response to emergency calls and solving serious crimes in their district rather than the less urgent crimes affecting

everyday living in the city. Response times and serious crime solution rates are the traditional measures by which their

performance is measured and leave them open to criticism of simply reacting to events. There is little sense of being

part of a city police force and, consequently, little sharing of information and experience between the different districts.

The failure in policing antisocial behaviour in the city is seen as being largely the result of a shortage of resources.

There are also important internal and external groups varying in their support or resistance to any necessary change

in policing strategy. Key players include the mayor of the city anxious to improve the reputation of the city, the city’s

press, traditionally used to highlighting police failures rather than successes and finally the courts of justice, which

are reluctant to take on the increased workload that any moves towards reducing antisocial behaviour would produce.

John is aware of the complexity of the problem he faces in changing the way the city is policed to improve the quality

of life of its citizens. He has, however, an impressive track record as a change agent in previous appointments and is

confident that he can bring about the necessary change.

Required:

(a) Using change management models where appropriate, provide John with a brief report on the nature of

change needed in the way the city is policed in order to improve the city’s quality of life. (12 marks)

3 The managers of Daylon plc are reviewing the company’s investment portfolio. About 15% of the portfolio is represented by a holding of 5,550,000 ordinary shares of Mondglobe plc. The managers are concerned about the effect on portfolio value if the price of Mondglobe’s shares should fall, and are considering selling the shares. Daylon’s investment bank has suggested that the risk of Mondglobe’s shares falling by more than 5% from their current value could be protected against by buying an over the counter option. The investment bank is prepared to sell an appropriate six month option to Daylon for ￡250,000.

Other information:

(i) The current market price of Mondglobe’s ordinary shares is 360 pence.

(ii) The annual volatility (variance) of Mondglobe’s shares for the last year was 169%.

(iii) The risk free rate is 4% per year.

(iv) No dividend is expected to be paid by Mondglobe during the next six months.

Required:

(a) Evaluate whether or not the price at which the investment bank is willing to sell the option is a fair price.(10 marks)