Charming accountants bid to reverse mistrust

SCOTLAND’s biggest accountancy body is planning to go on a charm offensive to help reverse public mistrust in the financial services industry.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland would like to see a significant increase in the number of young accountants who are mentored by senior peers on ethical behaviour.

Atholl Duncan, who in April surprised the Scottish media market when he joined ICAS after jumping ship from BBC Scotland where he was head of news, said the organisation has an army of members now in high positions in the wider business world who would be able to advise the next generation on difficult ethical issues.

Duncan, who is executive director UK and Global at ICAS, said: “The Committee on Standards in Public Life recently said that trust has dropped by 20 per cent in the past four years as a direct result of the banking crisis, the MPs’ expenses controversy and media phone hacking. But people still trust their chartered accountants a lot more than they would some other professionals. That is something we want to build on.”

He believes ICAS, the oldest accountancy body in the world, should play a key role in changing perceptions.

“Through efficient networking we can hopefully connect our members seeking ethical advice to other ICAS members now in senior business positions” Duncan said.

“This has happened before, but we want to make it part of the DNA of the organisation. If a member feels they have a difficult issue with accounting, or valuing assets, we want them to be able to contact a senior member who is pretty likely to have dealt with such a situation in their career.”

News of the campaign comes ahead of ICAS’s annual conference in Edinburgh this week where Angela Knight, chief executive of the British Bankers Association, will deliver the keynote address.