ACCA leadership is not known for tolerating criticism and suggestions for reform. When Prem Sikka complained about ACCA's electoral practices, ACCA chief executive wrote to his employer. When Sikka organised an EGM in 1996, ACCA Vice-President (Jim Waits), with the full approval ACCA hierarchy, chanted obscenities in public. Subsequently, ACCA pretended to discipline the Vice-President but to this day has failed to publish the results of this hearing in its magazine.
Now a recent edition of ACCA's in-house newsletter, Competitor Alert, describes Graham Hambly, editor of PASS magazine as a long-time "thorn" in ACCA's side. And what is Graham Hambly's crime? He has consistently campaigned for a better deal for ACCA students. PASS is the UK's only independent accountancy student magazine.