Professional Standards update May 2023

Firm responsibilities for revised CPD Regulations
The revised CPD Regulations (effective 1 November) will place specific responsibilities on ICAEW member firms and other firms. Read about the new requirements and the key steps to take in the coming months.

Key steps to take before November 2023

1. Review the revised CPD Regulations and supporting guidance to help your firm’s ICAEW Chartered Accountants and relevant persons correctly assess which CPD category they sit in.
2. Verifiable CPD hours – what are these and what can be included?
3. Ethics training – determine the training your firm will use.
4. Recording CPD – establish the process for recording CPD in readiness for review.

• Visit the CPD hub to access more information including FAQs and CPD categories

Regulation in times of change
ICAEW's regulatory and conduct responsibilities are delivered by the Professional Standards Department (PSD). Our role is to strengthen trust and protect the public by following the 3Es: Enable, Evaluate and Enforce. Read more about our strategy, activities, and the oversight of ICAEW's regulatory and conduct role in the Regulatory and Conduct Report 2022–2023.

New disciplinary framework: challenging disciplinary decisions
ICAEW's new disciplinary framework comes into effect on 1 June. In the run up to the launch, Duncan Wiggetts, Chief Officer for the Professional Standards Department (PSD), tells us more about changes to the processes for challenging disciplinary decisions and orders.

New disciplinary framework: changes to other regulations
A reminder that a range of regulations and guidance are being updated with small consequential changes to align terminology with the updated Disciplinary Bye-laws and regulations. New versions will be live by 1 June. Visit the regulation hub to access specific regulations or guidance.

Review of ICAEW's Professional Indemnity Insurance Regulations
ICAEW is conducting a review of its professional indemnity insurance (PII) requirements. The aim is to ensure that the arrangements remain fit for purpose and provide adequate protection to the public while being mindful of the cost to the profession.

May disciplinary update
Take note of the latest disciplinary cases to ensure you or your firm are not making similar mistakes.

FCA regulated fees and levies consultation: Rates proposals 2023/24
As we set out in previous responses, we find the method of calculating the professional body supervisor (PBSs) fees unfair as it penalises smaller firms and sole practitioners supervised by ICAEW, simply because they share an AML supervisor with the largest accountancy firms. We feel that the disparity between the levy applied to ICAEW and the smaller PBSs that only pay the fixed fee is becoming irrational – an inadvertent consequence of maintaining the fixed fee at a low rate that has not increased with RPI and any increases in OPBAS budgets being picked up by the largest PBSs. We are concerned that, with supervisory reform on the horizon, this disparity will become entrenched and will impact on PBSs ability to recoup costs from their supervised population in future. We call for a proper review of the OPBAS levy, as this was not included in the recent HM Treasury review of the OPBAS Regulations.

• Read ICAEW's response to this FCA consultation

ICAEW AML supervisory role and activity Q1 2023
Find out what we did in Q1 2023 to prevent money laundering.

AML webinar: firm-wide risk assessments
All regulated firms must identify and assess the risks of money laundering and terrorist and proliferation financing to which their business is subject.

This webinar aims to break down the components of your firm-wide risk assessment (FWRA), helping you recognise and document:

• The purpose of the FWRA
• The risk categories
• The risks your business may be vulnerable to
• Risk mitigations
• How the FWRA impacts your customer due diligence

We also signpost you to available resources and allow time for a live Q&A

AML risks webinar: Q&A
The Q&A session in ICAEW's recent webinar on money laundering risks highlighted a range of issues. We pick out some common themes, and experts from ICAEW's anti-money laundering supervision team and leading firms provide responses to key questions.

New AMLbites videos have been published
AMLbites: Risks and red flags - Chinese underground banking
AMLbites: Risks and red flags - High risk business sectors
AMLbites: Risks and red flags - High risk countries
AMLbites: Risks and red flags - Open source checks
AMLbites: Risks and red flags – Modern slavery and human trafficking

AML compliance checklist updated
The AML supervision team have updated the AML compliance checklist which is designed as a useful tool to help firms assess their compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.

ISQM1: implementation and expectations
A recent survey by the ICAEW Quality Assurance Department (QAD) suggests a strong and positive implementation of ISQM1 but urges the small minority of firms that haven't put it in place to act quickly. All active audit firms are expected to have implemented ISQM1, and QAD will review evidence of this as part of its audit monitoring visits. Here we summarise the findings and resources available to support implementation.

Insolvency News, Issue 13 (May 2023)
In this issue, read about SIP 16 reviews, insolvency compliance reviews, proposed changes to SIP 3.3 (Trust Deeds) and changes to our pre-visit information requests. You can also access resources such as webinar recordings and register for this year's Restructuring & Insolvency Conference. Plus, make note of upcoming changes to CPD and other news in the Professional Standards Department.

SIP 16 reviews: how to ensure statements are fully compliant
In this article, Louise Eames, Insolvency Case Manager at ICAEW, outlines her recent experience of reviewing Statement of Insolvency Practice (SIP) 16 statements and highlights pointers for insolvency practitioners (IPs) to ensure that their SIP 16 statements are fully compliant.

Dealing with life events: supporting vulnerable clients
The nature of probate work means most clients will be in some way vulnerable. We look at ICAEW's guidance for firms offering probate services and discuss why recognising the needs of vulnerable clients is so important.

Publish a summary of your diversity results
All firms should now have submitted a summary of this year's probate diversity survey results to our Regulatory Support team.
The deadline to publish a summary of your firm's probate diversity survey results is 31 May. Please ensure summarise your results on your website or communication material by this final deadline.