Clive Bellows, country head of Northern Trust in Ireland, attends a celebration of the expansion and refurbishment of Northern Trust’s office in Limerick with a ribbon cutting ceremony with the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan. Following the ceremony, Northern Trust’s Irish management hold a closed meeting with Noonan where they discuss their recommendations on a number of regulatory issues affecting Ireland – such as the approach of the Central Bank to the regulation of funds and fund service providers and the gold plating of European anti-money laundering legislation.

The role of an accountant has changed considerably over the past number of years, and while a head for numbers is still important, Vincent MacMahon, a partner with the Investment Management Audit and Business Advisory Services practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dublin, says that to excel in the profession, a desire to work with other people is what is really needed.