Facts go against accused CIMA council member

Facts go against accused CIMA council member

CIMA council member Margaret May "did not honestly believe" in the accuracy of a contentious email, according to a professional conduct panel

THE FIRST STAGE of a disciplinary hearing has dealt a blow to the defence of a long-standing CIMA council member.

A professional conduct panel found Margaret May “did not honestly believe” an email she sent was accurate after she was accused of acting contrary to the institute’s code of ethics.

May is charged with breaching the code because she attempted to send a key document to CIMA’s member network following an executive committee meeting, which the institute’s disciplinary body claims voted only to pass the paper to a governance working party.

CIMA claims her actions amount to misconduct. The latest finding forms part of a hearing to establish facts involved in the case. May is expected to face a second hearing in November on the substantive charge of misconduct.

The executive committee meeting, held in February last year, is central to her case and discussed what to do with a paper written by May.

In her email, May claimed it had been agreed that the paper could go to the members’ network, and distributed it for comments.

However, Sunday’s disciplinary panel ruled that the executive meeting had instead voted to pass the paper to the working group.

Matters have been complicated by a recording of the committee meeting from which the two parties have produced non-identical transcripts.

The panel concluded it was not “reasonable” for May to have viewed the meeting in this way.

However, during the course of the hearings May produced two witnesses to support her view of events at the executive committee meeting.

At the heart of May’s defence is her contention that the executive committee did not have the authority to restrict circulation of the paper, it could only offer a recommendation.

May claims that it was she, as chairman of CIMA’s members services committee, who had the authority.

May also faces a second charge of misconduct relating to a separate email about CIMA chief executive Charles Tilley.

In the email, sent to other council members, May refers to Tilley’s non-executive directorship of Great Ormond Street Hospital.

May is accused of misconduct because she wrote: “surely [he] should resign”, following negative media coverage of a whistle-blowing case at the hospital.

May claims the phrase was rhetorical and that she acted out of concern for possible risks to CIMA, but the institute has attacked the way she dealt with the issue.

A council member for 17 years, May’s lawyer indicated during the hearing that the case rests heavily upon politics at the institute. Garret Byrne said there were people with “very large axes to grind” against her, arguing their testimony should be taken “with a very large pinch of salt”.

* This is a corrected version of the original article first published immediately after the first stage hearing. The corrections respond to concerns raised by Margaret May regarding the reporting of her defence. We apologise if our original article was misleading.

Share

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Resources & Whitepapers

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata
Professional Services

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata

3y

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folde...

In the past decade, the professional services industry has transformed significantly. Digital disruptions, increased competition, and changing market ...

View resource
2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

3y

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professi...

In recent months, professional services firms are facing more pressure than ever to deliver value to clients. Often, clients look at the firms own inf...

View resource
Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine
Accounting Firms

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

3y

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

In a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...

View resource
Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021
Making Tax Digital

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

3y

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

The first phase of Making Tax Digital (MTD) saw the requirement for the digital submission of the VAT Return using compliant software. That’s now behi...

View resource