Accounting, Consolidation and Tax Manager
MAF Hypermarkets LLC - Carrefour
Total years of experience :25 years, 9 Months
Employed with the biggest retail division (Carrefour) of a MAF group in the region employing over 13, 600 individuals in Retail (Carrefour), having presence in UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Syria, Jordan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq.
My role involves responsibility for overseeing Head office accounting and ensuring preparation of consolidated and individual Financial statements as per IFRS. Am also responsible for preparation of annual budget and forecast for the IHO and on consolidated basis. Declaration of values for various insurance policies, Review and analysis of Insurance policies, claims follow up and periodical review. Am also involved in reviewing various financial policies and procedures, assisting GM Finance and CFO for preparation of various recurring and non-recurring reports, analysis and presentations for the Board of Directors.
My success in current roles with MAF Carrefour is evident from my career progression within this relatively short span of time and in an environment where difficult times are faced by various organisations.
Employed with the biggest retail division of a diversified group in the region employing over 13, 200 individuals in retail (Carrefour). Being a Comben Manager means providing financial expertise and tools to the large HR function reporting directly to the VP HR Retail, who inturn reports to the CEO.
My role involves proposing policies and procedures for various areas relating to HR and Compensation and Benefits of staffs, Country specific policies, Salary scale reviews and benchmarking, Cost of benefits analysis, Bonus and Increment workings and providing management reporting on HR costs, trends, Human cost forecasting, etc. The role also involves close coordination with other departments to ensure HR policies and procedures are adhered.
My role involves supporting the countries (KSA, Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Jordan, Syria, Qatar, Kuwait, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt) for designing policies, procedures and reviewing benefits. My job required 40% travelling.
Additionally, I'm involved in due dilligence for expanding the footprints in new countries.
100% subsidiary companies of the renowned J.P. Morgan Chase & Co (US), having presence in Brokerage sector, Treasury Services and Investment Banking in Pakistan. Reporting to regional office in Hong Kong and also liaison with head office in New York.
Major responsibilities as Head of Compliance for Pakistan include ensuring compliance with local regulatory requirements and global/regional firm wide policies and procedures including policies for AML, Chinese walls, MNPI, fair Dealing, Code of conduct etc. Training staff for creating awareness to compliance policies and regulatory changes. Monitoring and taking actions against breaches/potential breaches of violations of firm policies
Achievements at JPMorgan:
Developed Pakistan Compliance manual; filled in gaps within internal controls for efficient performance of regulatory requirements. Identified and escalated infringement of JPMorgan’s trademarks and filed suit against infringer. Have led by example to develop the culture of compliance in the location. Also working on Merger of the two legal entities in Pakistan. Advised the business in expanding its foot prints in Pakistan. Am very proactive in dealing with regulators and stakeholders. Also actively involved in Compliance’s Islamic finance advisory team for the Asia pacific on new Islamic products launched in the region. Provide quarterly classroom trainings to all Pakistan location staff on relevant topics.
As Company Secretary, performed timely filing of statutory corporate secretarial affairs. Prepared, presented and recorded the minutes of Board of Directors meetings and coordinated with the firm’s Office of the secretary.
A public limited Company registered under Non Banking Finance Companies (NBFC) rules, 2003, and subsidiary of Joint venture between Government of Pakistan and Government of Oman. Primary business is to launch and manage investment funds, portfolio management and investment advisory services. Successfully launched its first closed end fund with over subscription in IPO. Board members include Dr. Waqar Masood, advisor to Prime Minister, H.E. Yahya Bin Said Bin Abdullah, Chairman ONIC holdings - Oman, serving Major General Khalid Zahir from National Logistics Co. Ltd. (NLC - SRBF) and other distinguished technocrats.
Major responsibilities as Head of Risk Management include managing the risk profile of investments on regular basis, ensure compliance with regulatory framework, ensure compliance with investment policy and ensure risks are maintained to acceptable levels. I also have the responsibility to set up and oversee Internal audit function.
Major responsibilities as Company Secretary include taking minutes of the Board meetings, preparing and ensuring statutory filings and compliance of notices, obtaining legal clearances from legal council and co-ordination with the Board of Directors.
Developed Risk Management policies and procedures, Service rules, Annual Bonus plan, Finance and Internal audit policies and procedures
A public limited and listed Insurance company having over 40 branches within Pakistan. Reporting to the Group Director Finance, CEO and BOD. Responsible for the Accounting, Treasury function and Corporate reporting. Involved in strategic projects for the company that includes implementation of integrated insurance software, process re-engineering and strategy think-tank. Major developments during this time include:
- Preparation of Monthly Consolidated Management Accounts.
- Implementation of various Internal controls to safeguard Co.’s interests.
- Streamlining the process of internal reporting - manual & computerised.
- Implementation of Increased credit control policies & procedures.
- Identification of better yielding investment opportunities and increasing investment returns.
- Development of strong internal audit function & coordination b/w deptts.
As a result of the above efforts, it was first time in the history of EWI that its financials for the year ended 2006 were ready within January 2007 and audited initialled by BDO Ebrahim & Co. on March 2, 2007 and approved by Board on March 8, 2007, without having any integrated accounting software.
Involved in/responsible for audits of
- Madinat Jumeirah Resorts - Hospitality Industry. One of the top notched resorts in Dubai managedby Jumeirah International LLC. (Y.E. Jan 31, 2005)
- Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) - Dubai’s first stock exchange (Y.E. Dec 31, 2004)
- Schlumberger Limited - MEA Region - Quarterly reporting. approx. 35 countries reporting to this regional office in-turn reporting to its NYSE listed parent in New York - USA. Oil and Gas Drilling Services provider. (Qtr4, 2004)
- Western GECO Limited - MEA Region - approx. 35 countries reporting to this regional office in-turn reporting to its NYSE listed parent in New York - USA. Oil and Gas Services provider. (Qtr 1, 2005)
- Konica Minolta Photo Imaging Asia HQ Middle East Office - Branch office of Konica Singapore. Involved in Trading of Konica products in ME & North African region. (Y.E. March 31, 2005)
- Dowell Schlumberger Western SA- UAE Branches - Legal entity audit for UAE branch office of Schlumberger group Co. Oil& Gas service provider
- Schlumberger Technical Services Inc. - Dubai Branch - Legal entity and Management Accounts audit for Dubai branch office of Schlumberger group Co. Support services provider. (Y.E. Dec 31, 2004)
- Schlumberger Overseas S.A. - Dubai Branch - approx. 35 countries reporting to this regional branch office. Legal entity and Management Accounts audit for Dubai branch office of Schlumberger group Co. Support services provider. (Y.E. Dec 31, 2004)
- Schlumberger Limited - MEA Region - Lead the field audit SoX team for s404 testing for MEA HQ and Qatar Operation for year 2005 compliance
The company belongs to Media Industry -Radio Station having its transmissions and offices in four major metropolitan cities of Pakistan.
Heading the Finance and Administration of Entire Organisation having offices in Four metropolitan Cities of Pakistan. Job Description is enriched with all areas of finance and management and comprises of full fledged Treasury, Accounting, Management, Reporting, Administration, Credit Control and Budgeting Functions.
Liasion with External Auditors, Banks, monitoring and control of budgets, leading the department with staff reporting directly from all cities is also included in work.
Directly reporting to the Board of Directors. Liason with CEO and GM on all financial and major non financial affairs of the company.
Preparation of Tax advices and computations for filing annual returns to Taxation department.
Trained with a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Chartered Accountants. Qualified for associate membership of ACCA and associate membership of ICAP.
I have provided my audit and audit based assurance services for clients that include the following multinational companies:
• Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan Ltd. :
Subsidiary company of Reckitt Benkiser Plc UK - for Y.E. December 31, 1999, 2000 and 2002.
• ABC Investment Bank:
Due diligence assignment on behalf of a potential buyer, for period ended September 30, 2002.
• Unilever Pakistan Ltd:
Subsidiary of Unilever Plc - UK - for Year Ended (Y.E.) December 31, 2001, Half year ended June 30, 2002.
• Gul Ahmed Energy Ltd. :
Associated company of Wartsila- Finland, for Y.E. June 30, 2000.
• Al-Ghazi Tractors Ltd. :
Subsidiary of Al-Futtaim Group- UAE for Y.E. June 30, 1999.
• Beecham Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd. :
Subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK)- UK - for Y.E. December 31, 1998.
• Sealand Shipping Agencies Pakistan (Private) Ltd. :
(formerly subsidiary of Sealand Shipping Inc- USA) - for Y.E. June 30, 1998.
Primary Responsibilities
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Involved in various assignments pertaining to statutory audit, special audit on Group auditor’s instructions, special assignments, internal control reviews and allied matters. This interalia includes:
• Developing audit strategy and approach to various components
• Supervision / review of work carried out by staff
• Preparation & consolidation of financial statements in accordance with the statutory & group reporting requirements;
• Evaluation of adequacy of the system of internal controls and recommending improvements
• Analysis of past business trends, future projections and evaluation of strengths and weaknesses, for identification of risks faced and sustainable areas of business
• Contracts and Restrictive Covenants Compliance Reporting
Passed all papers of US CPA within 6 months
I'm among the very few people who have passed all exams of ICAP in first attempts. I've also been awarded a Gold Medal and "The Genius of Karachi Club" title for 2002 in October 2002.
I completed my ACCA by self studying.
I did my Bachelor of Commerce in first attempt and first division.