Foreword from the Chief Executive

In January 2007 the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry came to the Institute to participate in a corporate governance roundtable. As we walked up the stairs of Chartered Accountants’ Hall, our headquarters in the City, I pointed out a plaque listing our former presidents.

Amongst the names on the wall were William Welch Deloitte, Edwin Waterhouse, Sir William Peat, Arthur Cooper, Frederick Whinney and others. I was keen that he realise that the global accounting profession as we know it was started by members of this Institute. Names that are now amongst the most recognised across the business world were amongst the founders of our professional body.

The link between the past and present is a simple one. The accountancy profession was established because the world of commerce requires trust amongst its participants to operate effectively. This trust is built upon reliable, high quality financial information which chartered accountants provide. While the business landscape is considerably more complex than it was when the Institute was founded, the basic principle remains the same. At its core the accounting profession exists to provide reliable information to markets which in turn helps inspire business confidence.

Chartered accountants now advise and run organisations across every economic sector providing a range of services which could not have been conceived of a century ago. The profession has demonstrated that it is more than capable of adapting to the changing needs of business. The Institute has also kept pace with this change and now provides education, representation and support to an incredibly diverse membership working across a huge range of geographies and industry sectors.

What has not changed is our commitment to develop and promulgate excellence across the profession whether this is in audit and financial reporting; corporate governance; information systems; taxation or any other of the disciplines where our members are required to bring their expertise to bear. In doing so, as you will read over the following pages, we exist to help you inspire business confidence.

Michael Izza
Chief Executive