This month, we speak to Akolisa Ufodike FCCA, who until very recently was the deputy minister for immigration and multiculturalism for Alberta, Canada. However, he began his career in finance in Nigeria as an investment banker. A firm believer in life-long education, he went back to school to study for his ACCA qualification, as he wanted an internationally recognised credential. ‘I’ve always seen myself as a global citizen and it allowed me to position myself as global talent,’ he says.
It is very difficult at the moment to get away from the rollercoaster ride of tariffs, but at least finance professionals are finding ways to help their clients navigate the chaos caused by current US trade policy. With President Trump’s administration switching gears and direction on tariffs on a near-daily basis, the advice pipeline for trading companies worldwide is flowing fast. Read ‘Tariffs drive advisory demand’.
In a similar vein, we look at how in-house finance teams are now expected to ‘turn on a dime’. The sea-change in policy came just as many companies were putting the finishing touches to their first-quarter results. As one commentator says: ‘There’s very little visibility right now.’ Our analysis looks at the potential impacts on liquidity, valuation and impairment risk.
In other tech news, a Thomson-Reuters report about the use of generative artificial intelligence by professionals reveals that specialised tools are being baked into workflows, with a vast majority of respondents expecting the technology to be central to their daily work within five years. Find out how GenAI is being applied by different sectors within the finance profession in particular.
Finally, we turn our attention to Fifa’s Club World Cup in the US this summer. Controversy and consternation are growing as Fifa struggles to secure tax concessions for participating teams, which are liable to pay millions of dollars to US tax authorities on top of tax payable in their home countries. With the majority of the 32 participants based outside the US, we look at how the absence of tax relief could significantly diminish the tournament’s financial attractions.
