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Ex-CIMA council member appeals disciplinary decision

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16th Nov 2011
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Former CIMA council member Margaret May is appealing the recent decision of CIMA that she violated the institute's code of ethics and misconduct.

Her lawyer Garrett Byrne of 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square confirmed that May is appealing the decision. She now has a 21-day window from when the decision letter was received in which to lodge an appeal.

Last week May was ordered to pay costs of £55,000 to CIMA after "failing to act with integrity and professionalism"; however Byrne, who will be representing her throughout, has since claimed that the average cost handed down in misconduct cases is £2,000.

May's appeal is expected to highlight the politics at the institute and whether CIMA committee members were looking to advance their own agenda.

A CIMA spokesperson told AccountingWEB: “The committee found that Mrs May was guilty of misconduct in respect of the two charges made against her by CIMA. It also found that she had made dishonest statements in two emails that were widely disseminated to our members, and therefore she had breached the CIMA code of ethics - by failing to act with integrity, truthfulness and professionalism.”

One of the emails in question discussed the risks associated with chief executive Charles Tilley's non-executive directorship of Great Ormond Street Hospital, where she called for his resignation following the Baby P case.

The committee also found that she had forwarded to others a letter that was marked strictly private and confidential - in breach of the CIMA code’s requirement of integrity and respect for confidentiality.

It reprimanded May in respect of each of the charges and ordered her to contribute £55,000 to the cost of the proceedings. The committee said that had it not been for her means, they would have required her to contribute more.

CIMA has reportedly spent £95,000 on pre-trial costs and £66,000 on the trial that was held at Allen & Overy’s London office.

The tribunal chairman also said he was strongly of the view that May should have accepted the favourable settlement offer made to her by CIMA in December 2010 after she had approached the institute.

May rejected the offer on confidentiality grounds as it would have prevented her from discussing the case, but retaining its right to discuss it within the institute.

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By Frustrated Accountant
18th Nov 2011 11:53

Disciplinary Process far from fair

As having had some experience of the ICAEW disciplinary process I know it's far from fair. The committee likes scapegoats - and the smaller the fish the harsher fine you will receive for having done nothing wrong whatsoever so they can prove how good they are at routing out bad apples (who cares about sole traders - they aren't really one of us are they lads). All you need is one bad client or unqualified accountant taking over lying and that's that - you're fined 3 times what someone convicted of child [***] offence is. Those investigating complaints haven't got the integrity of the members - they're generally only there for appearances sake. Don't join an institute is my advice.

 

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