The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has released a policy position on professional regulation of the accountancy profession, stating professional accountancy bodies, acting in the public interest, must play an active role in the regulation of the profession.

The paper, Regulation of the Accountancy Profession, outlines various types of regulatory models and how they can be implemented and discusses the roles of professional accountancy bodies and governments.

The paper urges professional accountancy to continue its dialogue with governments to find the right balance between self-regulation with public oversight and external regulation.

This dialogue is crucial to guarantee overall regulation of the profession is of high quality and the benefits of regulation exceed the costs by ensuring regulatory systems change over time as market demands for accountancy services change.

Further reading:

CIMA welcomes 'principles-based' IFAC documents

CIMA warns code of ethics may become rule-based