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Council Members'Annual Register of Interests 2000 Please provide on the sheet below information about personal, business or other interestsor duties which might, to the best of your knowledge or belief, give rise to a conflict of interest with the ACCA or its associated companies or might influence the way in which you alone, or together With others, might vote on Council's affairs:    (a)   membership of formal groups:  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  (b)    business or social relationships:  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)   companies of which you or members of your immediate family are directors or secretaries or in which youlthey have beneficial interests: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (d)    involvement in partnerships, joint ventures or consortia: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (e) professional relationships with individuals who may have business relationships with ACCA or its associated companies: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (f) other: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Signed: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

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The functions and responsibilities of Council and its
  members
  This Code of Practice has been developed and adopted by Council as  part of its responsibilities to ensure the good governance of the ACCA.  Council expects members of Council to comply with the Code.

  Introduction

    1.The ACCA Council is the governing body of the ACCA; as such, it is accountable to the members. Its responsibilities under the Royal Charter and under statute require it to act in the public interest. Council has the key role in the ACCA's affairs and Council members have a responsibility to act in the best interests of the ACCA as a whole. Against this background, Council has decided to codify the various aspects of its functions and responsibilities.

 2.The functions and responsibilities of Council as a body derive from its role as described above and its terms of reference. The responsibilities of Council members fall into two categories - those which they undertake collectively and those which apply to them as individuals. Collective responsibility means that Council as a corporate entity has shared responsibilities and values which are different from, and wider in scope than, the responsibilities of individuals (in this case, the individual members of the ACCA Council). It is thus possible to differentiate between the collective responsibilities of Council members and their individual  responsibilities.

 3.Council members contribute equally and openly as individuals to ACCA's decision-making, each acting in the way s/he considers best and each exercising individual judgement. This ensures that Council's decisions and policy stances reflect the thinking and input of individual Council members; that thinking and input together make up the collective will of Council. Individual Council members do not represent nor are they accountable to particular interests or constituencies; rather they are part of a process of collective decision making undertaken in the interests of ACCA as a whole.

4.Although there is a certain amount of overlap between Council's terms of  reference, its functions, Council members' collective responsibilities and their individual responsibilities and, hence, a certain amount of repetition in the points, each of the categories has to be set out fully. The four sections below thus present:

          Council's terms of reference
          the functions of Council
          the collective responsibilities of Council members and
          the individual responsibilities of Council members.

  Terms of reference

 5.The terms of reference of Council are to:

 i.ensure that ACCA addresses and delivers the objectives of the Royal Charter and that ACCA policies and activities are consonant with the Royal Charter objectives

  ii.initiate reviews of, and to take decisions on, all aspects of ACCA's strategy and policy so as both to shape and respond to developments which will have an impact on ACCA

  iii.develop long-term strategic and policy objectives and to review plans and programmes for achieving these objectives, primarily through the Annual Strategic Policy Plan and Annual Budget

 iv.monitor progress in relation to the Annual Strategic Policy Plan, Annual Budget and strategy generally and satisfy itself that  appropriate controls are in place

 v.consider and keep under review the professional and public interest consequences of current or proposed legislative and governmental  measures, including those from international organisations

 vi.review and co-ordinate the representations to be made to external bodies on all matters pertaining to professional (technical) policy and professional standards, ethics and rules of professional conduct and the formulation of accounting and auditing standards and to consider the results of such representations

vii.set principles and clear policy guidelines for all aspects of services to members, including keeping under review communication with members and the organisation and activities of members' societies and ensuring the provision to members of advice and information on technical and ethical matters

  viii.appoint as appropriate task forces, working parties and advisory  panels to deal with specific policy issues

ix.receive regular reports from committees, task forces and the Chief Executive on implementation of its policy and actions taken within  their individual remits

x.set the policy for the ACCA's Chief Executive and to identify the key performance measures which will be used both to monitor the work to implement that policy and to develop future policy and

xi.provide a corporate policy framework for matters where delivery and implementation is the responsibility of national and regional centres.

  The functions of Council

 6.The functions of Council interact with its terms of reference. Council's functions are to:

        i.secure achievement of the objects of the Royal Charter

        ii.discharge statutory duties under financial services, insolvency and companies legislation

       iii.ensure that the ACCA acts in the public interest

       iv.act as the link between members and their professional body and lead the organisation in
             the interests of both, achieving anappropriate balance between the two

        v.determine objectives for the ACCA and an overall strategy to achieve them

       vi.anticipate and, as appropriate, seek to initiate and influence developments, both within the
            profession and in the environment in which it operates

       vii.respond to changes and trends as they occur

       viii.provide an appropriate policy and resources framework for successful implementation of
            the ACCA's strategy

       ix.monitor the ACCA's performance and progress against the key policy and financial goals
            which Council has set

        x.ensure that action taken by the Chief Executive in the operation of
          the ACCA and in the external presentation of Council's policy falls
          within the guidelines which Council has determined

       xi.develop internal guidance on the roles and responsibilities of Council members and the
        Chief Executive

       xii.provide stewardship in regard to the use of members' funds.

  Collective responsibilities of Council members

    7.In their capacity as elected representatives of ACCA members, Council  members are collectively:

        i.accountable to members for the activities of the ACCA and the extent to which key
            performance targets and objectives have been met

        ii.accountable in the public interest for the setting and maintenance of ethical and
        professional standards and the probity and consistency of ACCA members' work

       iii.expected to contribute effectively to developments in the accountancy profession and, as
        appropriate, in the wider community

       iv.responsible for establishing an overall strategic direction for the ACCA and for monitoring
        performance against agreed objectives and targets

        v.responsible for representing the views and policies of Council to external audiences

       vi.responsible for ensuring that services to members and activities generally are provided and
            undertaken in as efficient and effective a way as possible

       vii.required to ensure that all ACCA's procedures are of the highest standards

       viii.responsible for guiding individual Council members on their performance and the
            effectiveness of their contribution both on Council itself and in representing Council
            externally.

  Individual responsibilities of Council members

    8.As individuals, all Council members have a duty in discharging their  responsibilities as members of Council to:

        i.observe the highest standards of integrity, confidentiality and objectivity

        ii.exercise care and diligence in the conduct of Council business

       iii.contribute skills, expertise and experience to the work of Council

       iv.act in good faith as trustees in the interests of the ACCA and its members and in the public interest

        v.explain and support the policies formally adopted by Council even where these may differ from their individual views

       vi.refrain from making public pronouncements which are at variance with Council's formal position even where that position may differ from their individual views

       vii.refrain from making public statements which could damage ACCA's  good reputation and standing

  viii.avoid conflicts of interest

       ix.ensure that they do not use their service on Council to promote private interests

        x.ensure that they do not use Council's resources (including confidential information gained in the course of Council service) for  personal gain or in other ways, such as for the advantage of the organisations for which they work or other bodies of which they are members, or in any way to the detriment of the ACCA

       xi.provide in Council's annually up-dated Register of Interests appropriate disclosure of such personal, family, trust or business  interests as might conflict with their responsibilities as Council members

       xii.participate in such review of their individual contributions and  performance as Council may determine

       xiii.ensure in particular that, in their dealings with ACCA staff, they act with integrity and in a professional manner.