Auditing professionals urged to focus on ethics, credibility

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 Auditing professionals urged to focus on ethics, credibility
Mahmood Bangara, chairman, ICAI Dubai chapter (left); and Sangeetha Nahar, executive member, ICAI Dubai chapter; present a memonto to Anil Razdan, former secretary power, Government of India, in Dubai on Saturday.

Dubai - 37th Annual Conference of ICAI - Dubai Chapter concluded on Saturday

By Waheed Abbas

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Published: Sat 20 Apr 2019, 8:00 PM

Last updated: Sat 20 Apr 2019, 10:41 PM

The auditing fraternity should focus not just on technology and adapting new practices but also on ethics and credibility of the profession due to scams happening worldwide, senior industry professionals said at a conference in Dubai on Saturday.
"Scams are happening in the US, India and other places. One person's perception is affecting the whole fraternity. It is an onus on each and every member of chartered accountant fraternity across the world that we have to have ethics-based value practices," said Nilesh Vikamsey, former president of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).
"We are focused on trust of employers and clients. We need to add more weight to public interest and that is the future of chartered accountancy. We will become extinct, if we don't put ethics and technology together. We cannot afford scams - not just in India but worldwide," Vikamsey said while addressing the 37th Annual Conference of ICAI - Dubai Chapter, on Saturday.
More than 2,000 members from the UAE and abroad attended the two-day forum, which concluded on Saturday.
Amarjit Chopra, ex-president of ICAI, also called on his peers to improve credibility of auditing profession.
"The biggest challenge for us is to maintain the credibility that auditors used to enjoy. Scam after scam has broken out worldwide. The reporting pattern as it is today is not serving the purpose; the financial reporting should not just focus on what had happened but the reports can be futuristic, indicating that will is likely to materialise," Chopra said while addressing the conference.
"If we keep giving disclaimers after disclaimer, it is not going to serve the purpose."
He stressed on India taking the leading role in setting standards rather than copying them as the South Asian nation enjoys good talent.
Prafulla Chhajed, president of ICAI, said the body is working with the government on increasing the role of Indian auditing professionals at global level and how to make them future ready.
Mahmood Bangara, chairman, ICAI - Dubai chapter, emphasised on best ethical practices to be followed by the auditing fraternity and suggested that disciplinary actions should be taken by the institutes for breaching the values.
He also pointed out that sometime methods are exaggerated and the real trigger or cause is not due to the accounting issue.
Anish Mehta, vice-chairman of ICAI - Dubai chapter, said today the challenges before the entire accounting fraternity is that regulatory authorities have high expectations in the form of good governance and most importantly, ethical conduct and integrity.
"A weakened 'tone at the top' may have serious implications for the overall ethical operating culture of companies. However, many organisation now provides both statements of ethical values and code of ethics. Further tools like e-learnings, provision of hotlines, and incentive schemes are available to develop sense of integrity and ethics for people who follow ethical behaviour," said Mehta.
- waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com
 
 


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