ICAEW.com works better with JavaScript enabled.

Philip Nicol-Gent

Chair (Lay member)

Appointed to the IRB: 1 January 2016. IRB Vice Chair: 2017-2021. IRB Chair: 2022-present.

Biography

Philip has over 30 years of experience as a lawyer and began his career as a barrister in independent practice on the South Eastern Circuit. Philip is dual qualified, having been called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1991 and the Guernsey Bar in 2003. Currently Philip chairs the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales Regulatory Board (IRB), and he is also an Independent Governor of the University of Plymouth and a member of the Audit Committee of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Most recently Philip was the General Counsel of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and prior to that, a Crown Advocate within HM Attorney-General’s Chambers, Guernsey. Over his career in England and Guernsey, Philip advised on complex matters from aviation law, public law and financial services to the administration of the Icelandic Landsbanki (Guernsey) Ltd at the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis. He was also appointed as an amicus curiae in complex cases before the Royal Court of Guernsey.

Philip developed the Guernsey Green Fund, the first financial services product in the world backed by regulatory rules enacted under statute. He was also intricately involved in the Bailiwick’s response to emergency planning after 9/11 and attended the Cabinet Office College. In 2014 he was the chair of a multi-jurisdiction committee that drafted the first standard for the regulation of Trust and Corporate Services Providers.

In addition to holding a law degree, Philip studied at L’Université de Caen, Normandy. He has an Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and is a Fellow of both the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Royal Meteorological Society. In his spare time, Philip is a Commissioned Cadet Forces Officer.

Declaration of Interests

Membership of, or interests in, formal bodies or groups, including other professional bodies

  • Barrister, England and Wales (called to the Bar by the Inner Temple)
  • Advocate, Royal Court of Guernsey
  • Independent Governor of the University of Plymouth
  • Audit Committee of the Royal Aeronautical Society
  • Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society
  • Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society

Membership of ICAEW Council, ICAEW Boards and other ICAEW Committees

  • None

Partnerships, Directorships or beneficial interests in companies

  • None

Professional or social relationships with individuals who have business relationships or who compete with ICAEW

  • None

Any other matters you feel should be identified

  • ICAEW registered firm Chavereys are Examiners of the accounts of the General Aviation Safety Council LBG on which I am the Royal Meteorological Society's representative.
  • Crowe U.K. LLP, a firm registered to carry on audit work by the ICAEW are the auditors of the Royal Aeronautical Society of whose Audit Committee I am a member.
Philip Nicol-Gent