This update includes activity from September and October 2024.

Since the last update (August 2024), three tribunal orders, thirteen consent orders from the Conduct Committee, three fixed penalties, and one settlement order have been published.

In the first tribunal case, a member was severely reprimanded, fined £4,200 and ordered to pay costs for:

• engaging in public practice when they did not hold a practising certificate, in breach of Principal Bye-law 51(a);
• failing to notify the Members’ Registrar of ICAEW of the formation of their practice, contrary to members and Practice Assurance Regulations;
• failing to notify the Members’ Registrar of ICAEW that their practice was continuing to provide accountancy services, contrary to members and Practice Assurance Regulations; and
• failing to ensure that their practice was supervised by an appropriate anti-money laundering supervisory authority, contrary to parts 1–6 of The Money Laundering Regulations 2007 (effective 15 December 2007 until 25 June 2017) and/or regulation 8, and parts 1–6 and 8–11 of The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (effective from 26 June 2017).

In the second tribunal case a member was severely reprimanded, fined £3,000, ordered to pay costs, and ordered to provide documents, for failing to provide the information, explanations and documents requested by ICAEW’s Conduct Department, contrary to Disciplinary Bye-law 13.2.

In the third tribunal case a member was excluded from membership, with respect to complaints that:

1. the member acted dishonestly in that they permitted their application for membership to ICAEW to be plagiarised by ‘A’, contrary to rule 111.1 of the Code of Ethics effective 1 January 2020; and
2. the member sponsored the application of ‘A’ for ICAEW membership when they knew or should have known that the information contained in the application was not the own work of ‘A’, contrary to rule 115.1 of the Code of Ethics effective 1 January 2020.

The consent orders issued by the Conduct Committee resulted in the following orders:

A member be severely reprimanded and fined £17,000 for:

1. preparing five valuations for ‘X’ Ltd incompetently and/or inconsistently;
2. failing to inform ‘A’ and/or ‘B’ of two pieces of correspondence received from ‘C’ and/or failing to obtain A’s and/or B’s instructions before making the corresponding counter offers to ‘C’; and
3. preparing three years of accounts of ‘X’ Ltd that were incorrect and contrary to the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (FRSSE) (effective January 2015) and/or Section 1A ‘Small Entities’ of Financial Reporting Standard 102.

A member firm be severely reprimanded and fined £31,700 for failing to comply with:

1. paragraph 7 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 in that they did not ensure that appropriate and complete customer due diligence measures were applied to all of their clients; and/or

2. paragraph 8 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 in that they did not conduct ongoing monitoring of business relationships and customer due diligence.

   And/or failing to comply with:

   1. regulation 27 of The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (effective from 26 June 2017) in that they did not establish and maintain appropriate and risk-sensitive policies and procedures relating to customer due diligence measures and ongoing monitoring and risk assessment and management; and/or
   2. regulation 28 of The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (effective from 26 June 2017) in that they did not conduct ongoing monitoring of business relationships and customer due diligence.

   Failing to comply with regulation 13 of Clients’ Money Regulations (effective from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2016 and/or from 1 January 2017) as money in excess of £10,000 for any one client was held for more than 30 days without being paid into a separately designated bank account in the name of the relevant client, on any or all of three occasions.

   Failing to ensure that they had complied with the following ICAEW’s Clients’ Money Regulations:

   1. for providing a banking facility through its client money accounts, by holding monies and processing transactions on any or all of nine occasions that did not relate to accountancy services being provided. This is contrary to regulation 8A of ICAEW’s Clients’ Money Regulations effective from 1 January 2017; and/or
   2. as non-client monies were banked into the client money bank account, contrary to regulation 11 of the Clients’ Money Regulations (effective from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2016 and/or from 1 January 2017).

A member firm be severely reprimanded and fined £10,400 for failing to comply with:

1. paragraph 7 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 in that they did not ensure that appropriate and complete customer due diligence measures were applied to all of their clients; and/or

2. paragraph 8 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 in that they did not conduct ongoing monitoring of business relationships and customer due diligence.

   And/or failing to comply with:

   1. regulation 27 of The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (effective from 26 June 2017) in that they did not establish and maintain appropriate and risk-sensitive policies and procedures relating to customer due diligence measures and ongoing monitoring and risk assessment and management; and/or
   2. regulation 28 of The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (effective from 26 June 2017) in that they did not conduct ongoing monitoring of business relationships and customer due diligence.

In another case, a member was reprimanded and fined £1,400 for being responsible for the incorrect preparation of X’s self-assessment tax returns for four periods.

A member was reprimanded and fined £4,200 with respect to complaints that:

1. they, whilst acting as Lead Joint Liquidator of ‘A’ Limited, issued a Notice of Intended Dividend in accordance with rule 14.34 of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016, when there were outstanding matters regarding the amount of preferential and unsecured claims, contrary to R2105.1 (Professional Behaviour) of the Code of Ethics effective from 1 May 2020, in that the member knew or should have known that issuing a Notice of Intended Dividend in these circumstances would cause to be put at risk, the ability of dividends being able to be declared in compliance with rule 14.34; and
2. they, whilst acting as Lead Joint Liquidator of ‘A’ Limited, failed to comply with rule 14.33 of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 by postponing payment of the above dividend to creditors for reasons which did not meet the requirements of rule 14.33, contrary to R2103.1 (b) of the fundamental principle of competence and due care in that they failed to act in accordance with the relevant technical and professional standards.

Another member was reprimanded and fined £2,200 with respect to a complaint that they, as Joint Administrator of ‘X’ Limited, breached any or all of the following statutory obligations in that they:

1. failed to obtain the consent of the unsecured creditors necessary to extend the Administration which had commenced on 27 June 2019, in accordance with paragraph 78 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986; and/or
2. failed to notify the prescribed persons of the end of the Administration on 26 June 2020 and to send a final progress report, in accordance with paragraph 80 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 and rule 3.56 of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016, until 23 November 2021; and/or
3. failed to notify the prescribed persons of their appointment as Joint Administrator in the second Administration which commenced on 27 June 2020, in accordance with paragraph 46 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986, until 23 November 2021; and/or

4. failed to issue their Proposals in the second Administration which commenced on 27 June 2020, in accordance with paragraph 49 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1866, until 2 March 2022.

   In doing so, the member failed to comply with the Fundamental Principle of Professional Competence and Due Care as set out at R2103.1 in the Insolvency Code of Ethics (effective from 1 May 2020).

Another member was severely reprimanded and fined £1,750 for providing a mortgage reference for ‘C’ to the ‘X’, which included Y’s name stamp when ‘C’ was not a client of the firm and the member did not have permission to include it. This was contrary to R115.1 of ICAEW’s Code of Ethics (effective 1 January 2020) in that the member knew or should have known that by including the firm’s name stamp that their actions might discredit the profession.

Another member was reprimanded and fined £3,500 with respect to complaints that they:

1. engaged in public practice without holding a practising certificate contrary to Principal Bye-law 51a;
2. failed to notify the Members’ Registrar of ICAEW of the formation of their firm, contrary to Practice Assurance and members regulations;
3. engaged in public practice without professional indemnity insurance contrary to regulation 3.1 of the Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) Regulations (effective 1 January 2011 to 31 January 2013, 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2015, 1 January 2015 to 30 April 2017, 1 May 2017 to 13 June 2017, 14 June 2017 to 30 September 2018, 1 October 2018 to 28 May 2020, 29 May 2020 to 31 December 2020, 1 January 2021 to 31 May 2023 and from 1 June 2023); and
4. failed to ensure that their firm was supervised by an appropriate anti-money laundering supervisory authority contrary to:
   1. parts 1–6 of The Money Laundering Regulations 2007 (effective 15 December 2007 until 25 June 2017); and/or
   2. regulation 8, and parts 1–6 and 8–11 of The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (effective from 26 June 2017).

Another member was reprimanded and fined £1,400 for failing to ensure that their firm was supervised by an appropriate anti-money laundering supervisory authority, contrary to The Money Laundering Regulations 2007 (effective 15 December 2007 until 25 June 2017) and The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (effective from 26 June 2017).

Another member was reprimanded and fined £7,994 with respect to complaints that:

1. they engaged in public practice without holding an ICAEW practising certificate, contrary to Principal Bye-law 51a;
2. they failed to notify the Members’ Registrar of ICAEW that they had engaged in public practice, as a sole trader, within 28 days as required by the Information to be supplied by members regulation 3 (effective from 1 December 2010);
3. they engaged in public practice as a sole trader without professional indemnity insurance contrary to regulation 3.1 of the Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) Regulations;
4. they engaged in public practice through their firm, ‘Y’ Limited, without professional indemnity insurance contrary to regulation 3.1 of the Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) Regulations; and/or
5. they failed to ensure, as principal of ‘X’ and ‘Y’, that ‘X’ and/or ‘Y’ was supervised by an appropriate anti-money laundering supervisory authority as required by The Money Laundering Regulations 2007 and/or The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017.

Another member was severely reprimanded and fined £18,000 with respect to complaints that:

1. the member, as the proposed Joint Administrator of ‘X’ Limited, when considering the risks of the Administration failed to identify:
   1. the costs of holding a property while seeking a sale in Administration; and/or
   2. whether a funding line (other than capital assets) should be procured in advance of incurring property holding costs. This was in breach of the Fundamental Principle of Professional Competence and Due Care as set out at paragraph 400.4(c) of the Code of Ethics part D (effective from 1 January 2011 to 30 April 2020) and R2103.1 of the Insolvency Code of Ethics (effective from 1 May 2020).
2. the member, as Joint Administrator of ‘X’ Limited, agreed contracts for services, with knowledge of the terms of the contracts, in the absence of having secured funding to meet the contract terms. This was in breach of R2200.7 of the Insolvency Code of Ethics (effective from 1 May 2020);
3. the member, as Joint Administrator of ‘X’ Limited, failed to produce and maintain any or sufficient written contemporaneous records in respect of the decision to agree contracts for services relating to the property holding costs documenting the courses of action considered, the judgements made and the decisions that were taken. This was in breach of R2130.2 of the Insolvency Code of Ethics (effective from 1 May 2020).

Another member was reprimanded and fined £1,330 with respect to complaints that:

1. they failed to ensure their firm was supervised by an appropriate anti-money laundering supervisory authority contrary to regulation 8, and parts 1–6 and 8–11 of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017;
2. they engaged in public practice whilst a provisional member, contrary to ACA Student regulation 20;
3. they engaged in public practice without a practising certificate, contrary to Principal Bye-law 51a; and
4. they breached the Information to be Supplied by Members regulation 3 (effective from 1 December 2010) as they did not inform the Members’ Registrar of ICAEW that they were a director of ‘X’ Limited within 28 days of their appointment.

Another member was reprimanded and fined £23,950 with respect to the following complaints:

1. they were responsible for the incorrect preparation of five periods of self-assessment tax returns for ‘A’;
2. they were responsible for the incorrect preparation of two periods of self-assessment tax returns for ‘B1’ and ‘B2’;
3. they were responsible for the incorrect preparation of two periods of financial statements for ‘Z’ Limited;
4. they were responsible for the incorrect preparation of the Corporation Tax Return for ‘Z’ Limited for one period;
5. they were responsible for the incorrect preparation of two periods of self–assessment tax returns for ‘E’; and
6. they were responsible for the incorrect preparation of the financial statements of ‘F’ Limited for one period.

The consent orders above also all included a requirement to pay costs.

One fixed penalty was issued to a member and they were reprimanded for driving a motor vehicle on a public road having consumed alcohol in excess of the prescribed limit, contrary to section 5(1)(a) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Schedule 2 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, which breached R115.1 (Professional Behaviour) of ICAEW’s Code of Ethics (effective 1 January 2020).

Another fixed penalty was issued to a member and they were reprimanded for driving a motor vehicle on a public road having consumed alcohol in excess of the prescribed limit, contrary to section 5(1)(a) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Schedule 2 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, which breached R115.1 (Professional Behaviour) of ICAEW’s Code of Ethics (effective 1 January 2020).

A fixed penalty was issued to another member and they were reprimanded for driving a motor vehicle on a public road having consumed alcohol in excess of the prescribed limit, contrary to section 5(1)(a) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Schedule 2 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, which breached R115.1 (Professional Behaviour) of ICAEW’s Code of Ethics (effective 1 January 2020).

One matter was settled whereby the member was severely reprimanded, fined £5,000, required to provide the information requested by the Conduct Department, and required to pay costs for failing to provide the information, explanations and documents requested in a letter by the Conduct Department.

Further details can be found on our Disciplinary Database or please visit our Public Hearings page.