Society formed by accountants
24 Oct 1983Twenty-eight accountants from the Arab world met in London earlier this month to form the Arab Society of Certified Accountants, a pan-Arab professional accountancy body.
The society, to be based initially in London, was created under the aegis of Britain’s Association of Certified Accountants (ACA).
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh International, the largest Arab accountancy firm, was elected first president of the society.
According to an ACA press release, Abu-Ghazaleh commented after the meeting, “This is a historic day for the Arab profession. Our ambition is to develop a professional body which will qualify Arab accountants to serve the economies of the Arab world.”
There have been attempts at pan-Arab accountancy associations before, but none that lasted. The society will be the first with an examining function, that is, sponsoring examinations for accountants practicing in the Arab world. No professional bodies currently fill this function in any Arab country. Arab accountants are either qualified by foreign accountancy bodies — particularly British or American- or are simply degree holders from an accountancy school.
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