ICAG Annual Report 2020

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dc.date.accessioned	2021-08-10T01:10:45Z
dc.date.available	2021-08-10T01:10:45Z
dc.date.issued	2020
dc.identifier.uri	http://41.66.247.10:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/14
dc.description	PRESIDENT’S STATEMENT Introduction: The year under review, 2020, was unexpectedly disrupted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic which swept through the nations of the world from November, 2019. It made its forays into our country two weeks short of the end of the fist quarter. Due to the directives issued by government with respect to the strict adherence to COVID-19 social distancing and hygiene protocols, and the eventual ban on meetings and social gatherings, the Institute in compliance, suspended all its activities indefiitely. In the 57 years existence of the Institute, this was unprecedented. The Secretariat also shut down for the three-week lockdown period. Since all the activities of the Secretariat are usually inperson, all events, CPDs, school outreach programmes and the May, 2020 examinations were suspended. Once government eased the restrictions on events and activities in June 2020, the suspended May 2020 examinations were held in July in the year under review During the period of restrictions, the IT Department rose to the occasion and provided innovative alternatives to holding in-person activities. A virtual public lecture was held which was live-streamed across all the Institute’s social media platforms. This was followed by a virtual Graduation and Admission Ceremony. The icing on the cake was when eventually, the suspended Annual General Meeting with Council elections were held virtually in August 2020, with the introduction of the fist ever e-voting for Council elections. Over three thousand (3,000) members participated in the e-voting an unprecedented level of participation in any council elections. The Investiture Ceremony for the newly-elected Council was held in September, 2020 at the Golden Tulip hotel following the further easing of restrictions. Unfortunately, the annual Presidential Luncheon could not be held. But the gap was filed in with other virtual events including the review of the draft Bill which received Presidential assent in December, 2020. Due to the suspension of in-person activities, the revenue streams of the Institute were greatly impacted. However, by the third and fourth quarters of the year, the Institute was able to recover from a projected loss to an appreciable surplus much to the delight of Council, management and staff Amidst all the ensuing events, the Institute rigorously adhered to all the COVID-19 social distancing and hygiene protocols at all in-persons events held such as, the July and November professional examinations and the last Graduation and Admission ceremony held in November, 2020. The Institute, with the support of some District Societies, donated an amount of Twenty Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢20,000) to the National Covid-19 Trust Fund. By the grace of God, no staf was compromised by the infection, though unfortunately, the Institute lost a number of members to the deadly pandemic. May their souls and the souls of all the faithfully departed rest in peace. Amen. In appreciation to God for His mercies and grace for seeing all and sundry through a most turbulent year, the Secretariat held a festival of Nine Lessons and Thanksgiving Service at its forecourt to thank God for His mercies and for how far His grace had brought us. In attendance were the various district societies in Accra and AWAG. They participated in a choral competition. AWAG emerged as the best choir, followed by Spincity and Kascity. Passage of ICAG Bill Council worked assiduously with management and its legal team to facilitate the passage of ICAG bill by the erstwhile Parliament. The Bill has since received presidential assent. Membership In the year under review, despite the disruptions created by the coronavirus pandemic, the Institute organised two graduation and admissions ceremonies in April (virtually) and November (in-person) to admit newly-qualifid members. A total of six hundred and eighty (680) new members were admitted. Members in good standing in 2020 stood at 5,448. Professional Development In the year under review, a total of sixteen (16) CPD programmes were held as against eighteen (18) in the previous year. Comparably, even though the pandemic disrupted most of the in-person CPDs earmarked for the year, the quick adaption to the virtual platform saved the day. Most of the CPDs were deployed either via Zoom or Google Meet. It was gratifying to note that participation and patronage were not impeded but rather signifiantly increased. Members are encouraged to put premium on CPDs because of the dynamism of the global business environment. The Secretariat organized its annual Regulators’ Forum on 25th November, 2020 as scheduled. However, this time round it was held as a virtual event. Presentations were made by Bank of Ghana, RegistrarGeneral’s Department, National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), ARB Apex Bank Limited, Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) and Ghana Audit Service. The event was moderated by Mr. Anthony Sarpong, Vice Chairman of the Professional Standards and Ethics Committee. Continental Collaboration PAFA Board Meetings Due to the disruptive effct of the pandemic in the year under review, the in-person PAFA board meetings scheduled for March 2020 were cancelled and held virtually later in the year. The President, Prof. Williams Atuilik attended the in-person meeting held in November 2020 in Mombasa, Kenya. Legal Issues and Cases a. Guidelines by Securities & Exchange Commission The Institute’s attention was drawn to a circular issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on guidelines for registering auditors of public companies and SEC licensees. Some members and representatives from Practice Society teamed up with the Secretariat to hold deliberations with SEC to suspend their newly-instituted policy. The engagement between the Institute and SEC is ongoing to resolve the issue. b. Frederick Moore V ICAG Plaintif fied a Writ on 14th October, 2016 praying, inter alia, for a declaration that his dismissal by the Defendant was wrongful. He also made a claim for unpaid salaries, allowances and bonuses, among others, amounting to a total of GH¢899,782.63. On 26th October 2016, Defendant (ICAG) fied a Statement of Defence and Counterclaim for the refund of an amount of GH¢1,356,055.58 being monies misappropriated by the Plaintiff The trial is currently on-going and Plaintiffs crossexamination by the Defendant’s Counsel has been completed. c. Criminal Case involving Fredrick Moore In the year under review, the Institute formally pursued a criminal case against Fred Moore (former CEO). As part of the process, the CID visited the offi and invited some members of staf for questioning and conducted further investigations. Subsequently, the CID invited Mr. Fred Moore, following which he was granted self-recognition bail. He is expected to report weekly to the CID at the Police Headquarters. d. Chartered Institute of Certifid Tax Accountants Ghana V National Accreditation Board, ICAG, AG The Applicant fied a motion for enforcement of its fundamental human rights praying, inter alia, for a declaration that the 1st and 2nd respondents’ claim that they are the only bodies empowered by law to accredit and regulate the accounting programme/ profession in Ghana is a violation of its constitutional and fundamental human rights. The trial is currently ongoing, and the applicant has closed its case. The 1st and 2nd respondents are yet to open their case. At the last adjourned date on 20th November, 2019, the matter could not be heard because the 1st and 2nd respondent’s counsel were absent. The applicant has failed to continue the suit; hence the Court has adjourned the case sine die. e. Dr. Adu Anane Antwi V ICAG The case was fied by the plaintif on the 28th day of July 2016 praying for: 1. an order directed at the Defendant to always use the name “Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana)” as designated by Act 170. 2. an order declaring as illegal the admission of members to the Institute under section 4(1) (b) of Act 170 without regulations made by a Legislative Instrument as mandated by section 24 of Act 170 to approve members of any society or Institute of accountants of equivalent status to the defendant institute as eligible for admission into its membership. 3. An order prohibiting the admission of members to the Institute under section 4 (1) of Act 170 pending the promulgation of a legislative instrument as mandated by section 24 of Act 170 for regulations to approve members of any society or Institute of accountants of equivalent status to the defendant’s institute as eligible for admission into is membership. 4. an order directed at the defendant not to allow any member who has not passed the qualifying exam for membership of defendant to use the title ‘Chartered Accountant’ or the expression ‘CA’ after his or her name. 5. An order declaring illegal the licensing of accounting fims by the defendant as such licensing is not provided under Act 170. 6. An order that the defendant bears the cost of the plaintif cost. The Plaintif on 20th January, 2021 fied a notice of withdrawal of the suit. f. Dr. Adu Anane Antwi V ICAG Plaintif fied a Writ on 16th August, 2016 praying for various reliefs including declaring that the Annual General Meeting of the defendant which was held on 29th July, 2016 lacked a legal basis and was held in clear violation of the Defendant’s establishment statute. On 10th July, 2017 and again on 7th November, 2018, Plaintif fied a notice of intention to proceed but the matter has since been dormant. g. Dr Adu Anane Antwi V ICAG and 11 others Dr. Adu Anane Antwi fied a suit at the High Court 13th July, 2020 challenging the legality of the past Council holding offi after the two-year tenure which technically was deemed to have ended in May 2020. The Court on 2nd November, 2020 heard the parties to the suit, which the plaintif made a viva voce application to discontinue the lawsuit fied. h. Dr. Adu Anane Antwi V ICAG and 11 others In another development, Dr. Adu Anane Antwi on 28th August, 2020, served the Institute with a writ of summons seeking a declaration that licensing accounting fims under Act 170 is illegal. The Institute responded to the suit accordingly per the law’s requirements; however, the Plaintiff (Dr. Adu Anane Antwi) after fiing his reply to the Institute’s Statement of Defence, has not fied any further process. i. Caradoc Mills Lamptey, J. Mills Lamptey & Co. V ICAG The Court served the Institute with a writ of summons, Statement of Claim and an Injunction application fied on 25th June, 2020 at the Commercial Court Division of the High Court by Caradoc Mills Lamptey and J. Mills Lamptey & Co. The Plaintiff among other reliefs sought: 1. A declaration that the defendant’s act of using its fact-fiding mission as a subterfuge to investigate and condemn the plaintiff without due process is wrongful and unlawful. 2. An order that sets aside the defendant’s conclusion of wrongdoing against the plaintiff in the so-called ‘Report on special Engagement Compliance review.’ A declaration that the plaintiffs legal justifiation for the fies imposed by the defendant does not constitute professional misconduct under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1963 (Act 170) to warrant the imposition of statutory sanctions against the plaintiff. 4. A declaration that the plaintiffs 2018 audit of the fiancial statement of Construction Bank Limited is not a stated factor in the revocation of the bank’s operating licence by Bank of Ghana (BoG). 5. An order of injunction to restrain the defendant from any form or manner, penalising the plaintiff in respect of the 2018 audit of the fiancial statements of Construction Bank Limited. 6. A declaration that the defendant is not entitled to reject or refund that plaintiff’ 2020 annual subscriptions on the grounds stated in any of the defendant’s correspondence with the plaintiff. 7. Any other relief as the Honourable Court may deem fi, and 8. Recovery of the Plaintiff’ total costs and expenses in this action. The trial is ongoing for the Court to determine the application’s merits. j. The Republic V ICAG & 13 others, Ex-parte Caradoc Mills Lamptey , J. Mills Lamptey & Co. Mr. Caradoc Mills Lamptey, J. Mills Lamptey & Co. further to the above suit, on 5th August, 2020, fied for an order for committal for contempt against the Institute and 13 others, i.e the Council members for publishing a list of licensed fims in good standing for the year 2020. Mr. Caradoc Mills Lamptey, J. Mills Lamptey & Co. prayed to the Court to commit the respondents for their contemptuous act. The case is ongoing at the Court.	en_US
dc.description.abstract	To be the premier Institute of chartered accountants in Africa by: • Having a technically competent and appropriate membership • Providing services of the highest professional standards to industry, commerce and government • Being recognised for the highest professional standards of competencies, integrity and excellence • Providing the best services to members and students • Being accepted as an authoritative body in accountancy and fiancial matters	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	The Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana)	en_US
dc.language.iso	en	en_US
dc.publisher	The Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana)	en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries	2020;
dc.title	ICAG Annual Report 2020	en_US
dc.type	Technical Report	en_US