The Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators (CICBV) celebrated record attendance at their sold-out Eastern Regional Conference last week in Montreal.  Lorne Siebert, current CICBV Chair and partner at Siebert Pask Weston (Calgary), pointed to indications of expansive good health enjoyed by the organization:

• Membership has risen to 1,150, with 115 new candidates writing the Institute’s entrance exam on September 17th, nearly 25% more than last year.
• Half of the CICBV students are NOT chartered accountants, helping to distinguish Canadian business valuators from their accounting peers.
• CICBV “enjoys the respect of Canadian securities regulators and Revenue Canada,” Seibert said, “unlike the situation in the U.S. where the presence of five professional associations means that it’s sometimes difficult for business appraisers to get the ear of the SEC or FASB.”
• Besides working jointly with AICPA, ASA, NACVA, IBA, and the Appraisal Foundation, CICBV has joined the International Valuation Standards Committee, and through IVSC is working with the fifty member countries.
• The organization is working on a range of new standards in areas as contentious as independence, draft reports, valuation for financial reporting, and communications other than for business valuation.
• CICBV now offers eleven training courses, many developed with York University, and most are available on-line.
• Jeannine Brooks, CICBV President, added that the organization is expanding outreach to universities and researchers.  Its Research Institute Committee offers awards for the best research papers on emerging valuation issues.

Siebert’s major concern for the BV profession in Canada?  “We’re not growing fast enough to serve the legal and other communities who need us.”  www.cicbv.ca