No-one is doubting the impact that globalisation is having on our profession. There are global standards, the major firms and their clients are being managed on a global basis and regulators are following suit.

Given how essential the accounting profession is to the efficient functioning of capital markets, it follows that accounting also needs to take a more global approach.

While IFAC continues to play a part in driving the profession forward, we need to be doing more to help our members respond to the challenges of the global economy.

Through the creation of the Global Accounting Alliance, we aim to do just that. It creates a structure within which its nine founding members – including ourselves, ICAS and the ICAI as well as the American Institute of CPAs – that can work more closely together on a number of different fronts.

The GAA is about ensuring we are capable of influencing the regulatory agenda. The profession needs regulatory frameworks at the global level that provide accountability without impeding business growth.

Together, we intend to lead and co-ordinate the debate on those regulatory issues impacting the major capital markets, working with IFAC and other international bodies. For example, one of the major issues we intend to engage on is auditor liability reform.

It is also about ensuring we are there to support our members, regardless of the jurisdiction within which they operate. The GAA represents more than 700,000 accountants of which 53,000 work outside their home markets. To support them, we will work together to set up reciprocal arrangements between our respective bodies that will provide access to training and services in the relevant markets.

In the longer term, we expect to work more closely together to promote the portability and international recognition of national qualifications, helping each other to develop them in ways that will enable them to be more valuable in global as well as national markets.

The creation of the GAA is an important step, not only for the ICAEW, for ICAS and for the ICAI, but for the accounting profession globally. Together, we will provide leadership that brings together the intellectual depth, as well as the ethical rigour of our own individual institutes for the benefit of the major capital markets.

Eric Anstee is chief executive of the ICAEW