St. Lucian and Assurance Partner with KPMG Eastern Caribbean, Frank V. Myers, was re-elected President of the regional accountancy body, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean (ICAC).
Mr. Myers was re-elected President for the period 2014-2015 during a Special Meeting of the ICAC Board of Directors which was held in conjunction with the ICAC’s Annual Caribbean Conference of Accountants in Paramaribo, Suriname from June 5 to 7. Also re-elected as Executive Officers of the ICAC for 2014-2015 were Bahamian Jasmine Davis as Vice President; Jamaican Vintoria Bernard as Treasurer and Guyanese Khalil Alli as Secretary.
The conference, which was held under the theme "Back to Basics-Sharing our Values", featured presentations by international speakers on a wide range of topics including Corporate Governance; Opportunities and Imperatives for Caribbean Economic Growth; Strategic Leadership; Ethics and Professional Conduct as well as technical developments within the accountancy profession. Participants and speakers included chartered accountants and industry experts from the Caricom region, United Kingdom, Canada, USA, the Dutch Caribbean and the Netherlands. The conference also featured presentations from representatives of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank.
One of the recommendations from the conference was that the regional profession needed to join international institutions in urging Governments in the region to implement the necessary institutional arrangements required to enhance public sector financial management, transparency and accountability. An integral and essential part of these arrangements is the use of accrual-based accounting through the adoption and implementation of International Public Sector
Accounting Standards (IPSASs). These standards promote greater transparency and accountability in public sector finances and allow for enhanced monitoring of government debt and liabilities for their true economic implications. The accountancy profession and the international financial community is of the view that without accrual accounting, government decisions will always be sub-optimal, to the disadvantage of taxpayers and other stakeholders.
The conference also highlighted the need for greater involvement by members of the profession in charting the way forward within a region where the majority of economies are plagued by low growth, high debts levels, high unemployment, and fiscal deficits. According to the ICAC President, chartered accountants with their experience, education, and training are ideally placed to participate in discussions given their understanding of the business environment. Mr. Myers further stated that it was the responsibility of the profession to ensure that it was adequately represented at all levels – political, social and economic – within the Caribbean community. He reaffirmed his commitment to ensure that the accountancy profession in the Caribbean is recognised and accepted as having a key role to play in the development of the economies and markets of the region.
The ICAC is the internationally-recognised body representing the accounting profession in the English-speaking Caribbean. Its membership comprises national accounting organisations in the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Eastern Caribbean, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, with membership totaling some 3,700 accountancy professionals. Suriname is an Associate member of the ICAC grouping.
The ICAC is an “Acknowledged Accountancy Grouping” of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) dedicated to advancing the interest of accountants and professionals in the finance and accounting sector within the Caribbean through the promotion of internationally acceptable standards and best practices, thought leadership, research and continuing professional development.
