In Short

A round-up of today's other news stories in brief.

MoneyMate launches finance award

Financial information provider MoneyMate and the Investor magazine yesterday launched their annual awards, aimed at acknowledging the success of the Irish financial services sector and rewarding companies that have excelled during the year.

The awards are divided into two sections, one to reward excellence in fund management in Ireland and the other to honour services in the wider investment area. This year, several new categories have been added, including best residential mortgage broker and best share trading company.

The deadline for entries is January 20th. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Dublin on March 10th.

ACCA warns on bogus auditors

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is warning businesses and consumers to check that their auditor is qualified.

According to the ACCA, a number of individuals are operating as unregistered auditors, despite it being an offence under the Companies Act.

Members of the public can check if their auditor is registered by searching the Companies Registration Office website at www.cro.ie/search/auditore.asp

Credit union body appoints chief

The Credit Union Development Association (Cuda) has named Bill Hobbs as its new chief executive. Mr Hobbs was previously head of business strategy with ACCBank.

Cuda has 350,000 members and €1.5 billion in assets, and represents 20 per cent of the Irish credit union movement.