Is the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales unethically using the fines paid to it by firms that have failed in their professional duties to enrich other chartered accountants?

Posted on November 14 2022

Today I was looking at my Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales renewal notification for next year and noted this comment on the invoice suggesting how much I will pay:

In other words, I am to get free things I previously paid for. My personal saving compared to last year is £259.

In all seriousness, should chartered accounts really be the beneficiaries of the fines paid by those chartered accountants who do not properly comply with regulation and are fined for not doing so? I think not, but that is very obviously what is happening.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales has a duty to be professionally ethical. I rather strongly suspect that the ICEAW's failure to mention the reason why it can be so bountiful to its membership at this time is unethical, and I do not think the use of these funds in this way is ethical either. The ICAEW is a very long way from putting all its explanations for what is happening face up on the table for all to see, and that is unethical as far as I am concerned.

If the ICEAW wish to reply I will publish their response.

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5 Responses

Pilgrim Slight Return says:

November 14 2022 at 5:39 pm

You are on firm ground.

I think Michael Sandel dealt with this in his book ‘What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets’ (2012).
Cyril Wheat says:

November 15 2022 at 6:13 am

Just another example of the lack of transparency regarding where our money goes. I have copied and pasted some of the information without naming anyone into a letter to my MP in the vainglorious hope that he will at least make some noise and rattle some people. I doubt it but it is cathartic. I trust that this is OK.
- Richard Murphy says:
  
  November 15 2022 at 6:44 am
  
  Thank you
Mike Riddell says:

November 15 2022 at 1:00 pm

It’s a fair point but a rather unsubtle way to negotiate / get your point across though, don’t you think?

Ever thought of becoming a diplomat?
- Richard Murphy says:
  
  November 15 2022 at 1:59 pm
  
  I know they will have read it this way
  
  And why shouldn’t the world know what they are up to?