ICAEW’s regulation and conduct strategy
Our commitment and responsibilities
To increase confidence and trust in those regulated in terms of professional and ethical standards, we will:
- Create and deliver high-quality educational materials, targeting areas identified by our work.
- Take responsibility for and deliver an effective Continuing Professional Development policy and regulation.
- Use a risk-led approach to investigate the conduct of ICAEW Chartered Accountants, students and regulated firms and individuals, taking enforcement action where necessary.
- Drive compliance with Money Laundering Regulations.
To emphasise the importance of the regulated community doing the right thing and acting in the public interest, we will:
- Raise awareness of the importance of complying with the ICAEW Code of Ethics, making clear the conduct we expect.
- Publish articles and guidance on emerging aspects of professional conduct.
- Work closely with relevant agencies to aid the fight against economic crime and compliance with international sanctions.
- Review our Guidance on Sanctions and ensure consistency and fairness of application.
To enhance the effectiveness of ICAEW’s disciplinary interventions, we will:
- Introduce a new disciplinary framework and monitor it to ensure it improves the efficiency, effectiveness and fairness of our processes.
- Enhance the transparency of our regulatory work.
- Collect and review diversity data to monitor the fairness of our processes.
- Make the ICAEW Regulatory Board (IRB) and regulatory and disciplinary committees diverse and representative.
To raise awareness of the independence of our decision-making, we will:
- Engage with Government, oversight regulators and other stakeholders to provide a thorough understanding of our work.
- Hold events to raise awareness of our role and to stimulate discussion and debate about professional regulation.
- Create a new microsite for ICAEW Chartered Accountants, firms and the public to understand the importance of our work.
- Use our voice to influence proposed changes in relevant public policy, drawing on evidence from our work.
To consider how compliance with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards can be effectively monitored and enforced, we will:
- Monitor developments in the creation of the new ESG Financial Reporting standards, and train relevant Professional Standards Department (PSD) staff to monitor compliance.