“This committee is where it all comes together in terms of complaints against members and firms,” Paul explains. “As a consequence, we see absolutely everything from complaints against sole practitioners to the Big Four firms.” 

The Conduct Committee’s role is not to decide whether a complaint is proven. Instead, it decides whether there is a realistic prospect that, if an allegation were to be referred to the Tribunals Committee for a hearing, it would be found proved. 

Complaints can range from personal conduct that potentially brings ICAEW or the profession into disrepute to matters of professional incompetence and regulatory breaches.

“We deal with relatively low-level compliance issues through to very complex ethical issues, from reports consisting of a few pages to those running to hundreds of pages with hundreds of attachments,” explains Paul. “The most challenging matter we dealt with during my time on the committee involved the committee convening for three days just to work through a report on one case in addition to our usual monthly meeting. This was an insolvency case where, not only were two insolvency practitioners ultimately sanctioned; the case concluded with the largest ever fine against a member firm.”

Professional and disciplined

When Paul started his tenure, the committee was known as the Investigation Committee. In June 2023, the name was changed to better reflect the committee’s role.

“We’re a large committee, currently composed of 19 members,” he says. “And, by its nature, our workload is quite varied. The size of the committee is important because its accountant members need to represent the various accountancy specialisations, as well as the breadth of firms.

"And for each accountant member,” Paul explains, “there needs to be at least one lay member so that we can demonstrate we act in the public interest, and that it’s not just accountants regulating accountants.”

Paul himself is a lay member and has a background in venture capital and private equity investment, so he has dealt extensively with chartered accountants both as advisers and colleagues.

This experience fits well with the work the committee carries out. “I've always had to deal with a lot of complex information and be able to distil that and understand the real issues, whether when making an investment or taking a decision on the Conduct Committee,” he explains.

“During my time as Chair, the committee has become increasingly professional and disciplined in the way it considers cases,” he says. “We take a structured approach to decision making.

"First, we decide whether there is a case to answer and then, if we have established that there is, we use ICAEW’s Guidance on Sanctions to identify the appropriate starting point for a sanction,” he explains.

“We then methodically work through the aggravating and mitigating factors, including personal mitigation, to decide whether, in the particular circumstances of a case, a greater or lesser sanction is appropriate.”

This process allows the committee to show it is dealing with members in a consistent and transparent way, while still considering individual circumstances.

“Unless we go through that structured decision making, and explain it in our reasons, it's very difficult for members and the complainants to understand how we've got to the proposed sanction,” explains Paul.

“We're now a pretty well-oiled machine in terms of running that process,” he says. “And I see that as a significant improvement in the time I've been on the committee.”

Taking the tech advantage

The COVID-19 pandemic played an unexpected part in supporting more structured decision making. “Like the profession it serves, and the country as a whole, we faced huge challenges during the COVID period," says Paul.

“But the changes we had to make meant we became more focused and disciplined in our consideration of the cases, and we turned technology to our advantage by, for example, being able to share and edit documents in real time during our meetings.

"It made us more efficient and helped us to focus on the reasons why we've come to the decision,” he explains.

The committee carried these changes forward when in-person meetings resumed this past year. “Lockdown forced us to think about how we did things,” says Paul. “And that was a big plus.”

The ability to hold meetings online has also enabled the committee to function more efficiently and cost-effectively, including helping to support a more diverse membership.

“People live all over the UK, so being able to join online makes it that much easier for us all to get together,” says Paul. However, he also recognises the value of in-person meetings. “There needs to be a balance and I think we've now got that balance, with physical meetings every third month.”

Getting smarter

In 2023, 377 complaints were closed after completion by the committee. “We consider 20 to 30 cases every month,” says Paul. “They include allegations of professional incompetence and regulatory failures, as well as, unfortunately, complaints about dishonesty and unethical behaviour.

"The caseload over the years has been pretty constant,” he says. “But I think ICAEW and we, as a committee, have got smarter in dealing with the complaints, so, in the cases that come to us, there is a real job to be done in assessing whether there is a case to answer or not, and that's the prime purpose of the Conduct Committee.

"During my time as Chair, the Professional Standards Department’s senior management have also become a lot more willing to seek feedback from those of us working at the sharp end on how improvements can be made so that the processes become more efficient and effective,” he explains.

“I was one of the first to champion the creation of a ‘fitness process’ to ensure a different routing for members who are struggling to cope with the disciplinary processes through mental or physical health impairments,” he says. “I have also supported other changes such as the introduction of new sanctioning powers for the Practice Assurance Committee to reduce the number of compliance cases coming to the Conduct Committee and the introduction of fixed penalties for other minor, non-compliance issues.”

A touchstone

One of the trends Paul has witnessed during his tenure has been a rising number of complaints about inappropriate comments posted by accountants on social media. “When I joined the committee, we'd see virtually no complaints of this nature,” he says. “But it is increasing, and it's not peculiar to accountants. Other professions and professional regulators are facing the same issues with those kinds of complaints.”

Many of the broader complaints the committee considers relate to accountants who have failed to comply with their regulatory or legal responsibilities. “Often these are in respect of anti-money laundering (AML),” says Paul. “And many could have been avoided if the accountant had taken advantage of the excellent and readily-available guidance ICAEW provides.”

Sometimes AML complaints are standalone, but often they come with complaints about not having a practising certificate or not having professional indemnity insurance (PII). “All of these are completely avoidable,” says Paul. “Accountants need to keep abreast of requirements and changes to requirements.”

To place the number of complaints in context, he stresses that most accountants are ‘playing by the book’ and never come near the Conduct Committee. “But it's not fair that some of their colleagues let them down, and you've got to have read the book to comply with the book.

"The reputation of the profession is precious and needs to be protected for the sake of members and the public,” he says. “And that's the touchstone for our work: protecting the public and preserving the reputation of the profession.

"I’ve gained huge satisfaction from serving on the Conduct Committee,” he concludes. “I’m constantly impressed by the quality and commitment of my fellow committee members, and I’d encourage anybody considering serving on a disciplinary or regulatory committee to do so. ICAEW is lucky to have such a talented and dedicated group of people engaged in its regulatory function.”

Resources and useful links

• Read about the function of the Conduct Committee
• Learn about PSD's operational performance in the 2023/24 Regulatory and Conduct Annual Report

Note from the Professional Standards Department

Serving on committees can be a rewarding experience. We’d like to encourage readers to express their interest in serving on a committee even when there is no vacancy. Roles on PSD committees are remunerated. Find out more on the PSD committees’ webpage