Newsflash - ACCA plans merger with CIMA & CIPFA
ACCA mailing reveals plans to create an accountancy ?superbody' by merging with rival institutes CIMA and CIPFA, reports Lawrie Holmes
The certifieds? association sent a letter on 14 July to all 120,000 members of the three institutes setting out its proposal for a three-prong structure to serve business, public sector and practice members.
‘This is a model that should find a resonance with everybody,? said ACCA president Michael Foulds.
Foulds stressed the new body would be ‘an equal partnership’ and would not be dominated by ACCA. ACCA has 60,000 members, compared to 43,000 in CIMA and 13,000 in CIPFA. The merger would give the profession greater influence with the government, which wanted fewer insitutes, and support the globalisation of accountancy, he said.
ACCA said the plans offered ‘enhanced accountability’, with a democratically elected 30-member council. Qualifications and training in the proposed organisation would be standardised, benefiting the 200,000 students in the combined institutes.
If ACCA?s 10-week campaign succeeds, the proposal will go to institute agms next year. Pending approval from the the Privy Council, the earliest completion date would be in 2000.
For full details and responses from the profession, see Accountancy Age or visit this site on 16 July. Institute members can receive further information from the Merger Web site