Doubts over new Arab accounting body
01 Oct 1983A new body for accountants in the Middle East — the Arab Society of Certified Accountants — was set up last month but already doubts as to its viability are being aired by some senior practitioners in the region. The speed with which the Society was established is part of the problem.
Medhat Lutfi, senior partner of Ernst & Whinney, Dubai, denounced as premature “the election of a Council by the Society following its first meeting, rather than the establishment of a working party.”. He continued: “I have grave doubts whether this scheme will get off the ground. There has not been enough consultation and everything has happened too fast.”
The Arab Society was officially launched last month by 28 prominent accountants drawn from major Arab and international firms, acting in a personal capacity. The impetus was provided following a visit to the Middle East earlier this year by Professor John Small, former president of the UK Association of Certified Accountants. After discussions with practitioners and government representatives in a number at countries, the Association offered to provide assistance with launching a new body.
The Society will be the first accounting body in the Arab world to have an examination function. The initial objectives also include playing a role in the development of professional accounting standards in the Middle East. It will not act however, as a licensing body.
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, head of one of the Middle East’s largest accounting firms and first president at the Socieiy, told IAB: “It is our aim to apply standards which are equivalent to those of the leading professional bodies in the world.”
The UK Association will be closely involved with the new society, since it will both set and mark the qualifying examination papers, as well as provide advice on technical matters. The examinations will be the same as those set by the Association worldwide, but with special papers on tax and company law tailored to the requirements of the Middle East.
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh is anxious to develop a continuing and permanent relationship with the Association.
Applicants, it is understood will have to register within the next four months. After that admissions will be by examination only.
Most previous attempts at forming a credible body for accountants in the Middle East have foundered in the absence of an examining function. But failure has also been attributed to the dominance of individual countries. The efforts of one existing body — the Beirut-based Middle East Society of Accountants — are seen by some as too heavily concentrated on developments in the Lebanon.
Critcism of the new body centres on the fact that the entry requirements will preclude many people who are experienced and licensed to practise in their particular country.
Five Middle East partners from Ernst & Whinney, who were present at the inauguration. are expected to reject the proposals for membership. They consider it imperative that all the top firms in the area be represented, including the leading Lebanon-based firm of Saba & Co., which did not participate in the launch.
Furthermore, they claim that the problems of reconciling national differences in an Arab Society are substantial and can only be resolved through a slow and detailed process of negotiation.
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