ICAN holds first CFO conference, honours NBPA 2025 award winners

KATHMANDU: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN) held its First CFO Conference 2026 on Tuesday and presented the National Best Presented Annual Report (BPA) Awards 2025 to organisations recognised for excellence in financial reporting, corporate governance and transparency.

Held under the theme 'Leading Beyond Finance, Shaping the Future,' the conference brought together chief financial officers, finance leaders, regulators, policymakers, chartered accountants and industry experts to discuss the expanding role of finance leadership in Nepal’s economic development. ICAN officials said the event aimed to prepare finance leaders for innovation, ethical governance and sustainable growth.

In opening remarks, CA (Dr) Sunil Devkota, chairman of the Members in Industry Committee and ICAN council member, spoke on the significance of the CFO’s role. CA Nil Bahadur Saru Magar, ICAN President, highlighted the institute’s commitment to developing future-ready finance leaders. CA Ratna Raj Bajracharya, ICAN past president and former bank CEO, delivered the keynote address and emphasised the strategic importance of CFOs for Nepal’s financial future.

Technical sessions included CA Abhishek Saraf of Surya Nepal, who addressed the CFO as a strategic navigator beyond the balance sheet, and CA Manoj Gyawali, CEO of Nabil Bank, who explored the evolving CFO mindset from operations to strategy. A panel on finance transformation and the impact of artificial intelligence, digitalisation, automation, sustainability reporting and virtual CFO services brought together finance executives from Ncell Axiata, Standard Chartered Bank, Shikhar Insurance and CG Corp Global, and was moderated by CA Aman Uprety.

The NBPA 2025 ceremony honoured organisations across sectors. Gold Awards went to Nabil Bank (Private Sector Banking), Kamana Sewa Bikas Bank (Financial Services), Nepal Life Insurance Co (Life Insurance), Shikhar Insurance Co (General Insurance) and Unilever Nepal (Manufacturing). ICAN also presented six Silver Awards, five Bronze Awards and 18 Certificates of Merit, distributing a total of 34 awards from 39 nominations representing 34 organisations across 11 sectors.

ICAN said the assessment reaffirmed a growing commitment among Nepali organisations to transparency, accountability and high-quality financial reporting. Concluding the programme, CA Anand Raj Sharma Wagle, ICAN vice president, summarised the conference’s key deliberations and congratulated the award recipients, reiterating the institute’s pledge to strengthen the accounting profession and corporate reporting standards in support of Nepal’s sustainable economic growth.