Tata Group and ICAEW offer the ACA in India

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) is to become the first UK accountancy professional body to deliver its ACA qualification in India. Under an agreement with Tata Sons, the ICAEW will initially train 49 students who are being recruited into the Tata Graduate Accounts Trainee (GAT) programme from India's top universities, into 7 Tata Group companies.

Commenting on the decision to train some of the best Indian college graduates with the ACA qualification, Mr. Ishaat Hussain, FCA, Finance Director of Tata Sons said: "Tata Group is a global organisation operating in a multi-sector business marketplace across the world. To be able to maintain our growth and international presence, we need finance professionals with a global functional capability. The ACA is such a qualification and will enable us to build a team of finance professionals that can provide true leadership to our businesses."

Added Michael Izza, Chief Executive of the ICAEW: "Taking our qualification to India is a significant step forward in our ambition to expand the international community of chartered accountants. Global companies want the ability to be able to move their top, most talented finance professionals around the organisation. To be able to do this successfully, they need to have a qualification which is recognised and respected internationally."

Students under the programme will be trained using the new ACA syllabus that will be launched in September 2007, which will be tailored to meet the needs of Tata Sons. The training will be delivered so as to allow the students to grasp the knowledge and apply it quickly to their respective businesses. The programme will use International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and will be the first of its kind in India.

Concluded Dr Raymond Madden, the ICAEW's Executive Director of Learning & Professional Development: "That a global corporation with the ambition of Tata Sons has decided to train its high flying finance professionals with the ACA demonstrates the relevance of our new syllabus to the needs of business across the world. It provides finance professionals with the technical and ethical understanding they need to get to the highest levels within their organisations."

Mr. Satish Pradhan, Executive Vice President, Group HR, Tata Sons, added, "Building truly international finance capability is an essential ingredient of our talent strategy. The ICAEW programme with its curriculum depth and rigour, and assured quality of instruction and support material, along with the rich diversity of opportunities in the Tata Group for the GAT participants, promises to build a strong functional base for the Group as we go forward."