ACCA’s new governance structure has not improved its accountability or transparency, according to a longstanding critic.

ACCA member and University of Essex professor of accounting Prem Sikka said the institute’s measures, which include independent lay appointees to oversee its governance, were ‘nothing more than a gimmick’.

‘The [lay appointees] are handpicked and not independent, so they don’t increase the accountability of ACCA’s officers,’ said Sikka.

But Peter Large, ACCA’s executive director for governance, said the new structure followed best practice.

‘Placing oversight of regulation and discipline at arm’s length from the governance of ACCA’s other activities helps to reassure stakeholders that ACCA’s arrangements are operated impartially, with integrity and in the public interest,’ Large said.