Faculty Updates (June - Sep 26)

Faculty in the News

• Richard Crowley, Associate Professor of Accounting, was interviewed on BBC News regarding ChatGPT’s and Anthropic’s planned stock market debut. In the article "AI giants' race to raise funds heats up as ChatGPT-owner plans stock", Assoc Prof Crowley said investors are closely tracking the listings of these two generative AI firms, as their performance will help shape expectations for others to follow. He added that the fate of their financing is intrinsically intertwined with the public's perception of the generative AI space.
  Learn More
• Cheng Qiang, Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Accounting, was featured in the August 2026 issue of Research@SMU, regarding his research into ChatGPT’s usefulness in stock trading which was evidenced in his recent publication in the Journal of Accounting and Economics, "Does generative AI facilitate investor trading? Early evidence from ChatGPT outages". However, Prof Cheng opined that if the vast majority of stock market participants were to use a single AI tool to process market signals and information, and then trade on that tool’s recommendations, there would “only be one voice in the market”.
  Learn More
• Shaphan Ng, Assistant Professor of Accounting, who was interviewed in the Forbes article "Megadeal Tax Subsidies Boost Local Innovation, Study Finds" as a co-author of the study "'Megadeal' Subsidies, Local Spillovers, and Corporate Innovation". The study assessed the costs and benefits of Megadeal subsidies, and results suggest that local firms (that are unaffected by the Megadeal) in a county that lands a Megadeal go on to patent more than neighbouring firms, suggesting an increase in innovation activity for these unaffected firms.
  Learn More
• Yuanto Kusnadi, Associate Professor of Accounting (Education), co-authored the commentary "AI valuations: Beware the “accounting illusion”" published in the Hong Kong Economic Journal. The piece cautions that strong reported earnings among AI-related companies may not fully reflect underlying business performance. As AI valuations continue to attract investor enthusiasm, headline earnings and conventional valuation metrics may give a misleading picture of companies’ underlying value.
  Learn More
• Themin Suwardy, Associate Provost (Postgraduate Professional Programmes) and Associate Professor of Accounting (Practice), moderated SMU's inaugural Asia Ready Conversations (ARC) with a dialogue featuring business leader and author Mr R. Gopalakrishnan. Titled "India, China and the Future of Asia: Navigating Opportunity and Change," this was the first of SMU Asia Ready Conversations a new initiative that brings together students and thought leaders for conversations on the ideas and forces shaping Asia's future.
  LEARN MORE
• Holly Yang, Associate Dean (Partnerships and Impact) and Professor of Accounting, commented on the sudden closure of True Fitness in Singapore in the MSN article "Why Singapore’s big-box gyms are losing to niche fitness studios". Prof Yang noted that while financial distress was evident in public filings from Kontafarma and True Fitness, ordinary consumers could not be expected to scrutinise financial statements before buying a gym membership.
  LEARN MORE

Faculty Appointments beyond SOA

• Lou Yun, Associate Dean (Research) and Associate Professor of Accounting, has been appointed Deputy Editor of the journal Accounting & Finance.
• Richard Crowley, Associate Professor of Accounting, has been appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Business, Finance and Accounting with effect from September 2026.