Respect, reputation, renewal

John Prosser talks to ACCA's new CEO, Allen Blewitt

Allen Blewitt and the accountancy profession go back a long way. Before stepping into the hot seat as ACCA's chief executive at the end of November, Blewitt had already tackled more than his fair share of heavyweight professional issues in a career spanning 20 years. Most recently he was executive director of ACCA's Asia Pacific region and, before this, director of innovation and strategy and then deputy chief executive at the Australian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

It would be easy to believe that the forthright Aussie had probably seen it all, done it all and got the t-shirt. Not so. Blewitt acknowledges that the international accounting community is currently desperately trying to come to terms with a uniquely turbulent and troubled period. He believes that corporate scandals from Enron to Parmalat have inflicted the most severe kind of damage to the profession's reputation and there is a major rebuilding job to be done. 'We are facing an environment, which most of us have never seen before in our professional lives, in which the credibility of accounting services is constantly being challenged,' he says. 'It's the credibility of our professionalism, the credibility of our professional ethics and the credibility of the numbers which are our bread and butter as professional accountants. I don't think I've seen anything as bad as this in 20 years of involvement with the profession. Reputation rebuilding is one of the critical issues as far as I'm concerned.'

But he is well aware too of the complexity of the message the profession needs to communicate, to governments, regulators and the public, in the face of the all too frequent cry 'Where were the auditors?' 'Commentators have failed to differentiate between the different types of financial crisis,' he argues. 'Enron, WorldCom and Tyco were examples of crooked behaviour; in other cases, we were looking at mismanagement as a major cause of failure and, at the other end of the spectrum, with Parmalat, there was a clear case of fraud and embezzlement by senior management and principals. The great danger is that the public lumps them together and says that the auditors were at fault. It's just not that clear cut. We need to differentiate in the messages we give. There is a huge challenge in communicating this message to the financially literate public and to those close to governments and regulators.'

But whilst on record as passionately committed to the value of rigorous audit and the professional skills which underpin it, he is also insistent that the professional should not become so obsessed with the work of external auditors that it loses sight of the position and responsibilities of accountants in business, particularly those who form such an important constituency within ACCA's own membership.

At a global level, Blewitt readily acknowledges that major international bodies such as ACCA cannot afford to lose the plot by failing in developing economies or smaller countries, where a major corporate crisis could be as damaging to the profession's reputation as one which happens in a major commercial centre or capital market. And he considers the future of self-regulation to be a crucial issue. 'We are going to have to earn every inch of self-regulation that we retain. We will have to accept the reality of external regulation and we will have to fight for every aspect of self-regulation we continue to hold and demonstrate that we deserve it. That is a very different professional environment.' But he is concerned that many of those who are close to government and regulators have insufficient experience and understanding of the workings of the commercial and financial services sectors. 'I am worried that there is so little genuine insight into the way the profession works, the best practices we have in place, the sound regulatory structures we have and the very strong track record of the majority of the profession.'

But it's not all gloom. ACCA has firmly committed to supporting international standards and Blewitt looks forward to furthering ACCA's contribution towards their acceptance. 'We've got a once in a generation opportunity to build an independent set of international financial reporting standards and the credibility of that process is one of the really big issues,' he says. 'My concern is that the politicisation of the IASB, through external pressure from Europe for example, is causing a potential threat to that opportunity. The IASB is seeking to produce robust and lasting standards based on strong technical grounds and the process should be above political lobbying and partisan commercial interests. If, for example, a compromise based on political pressure causes the IASB to crumble on derivatives and financial instruments, my concern is that interest groups will be encouraged to attempt the same again on other issues. I'd rather not embolden those people.'

For ACCA, Blewitt's priorities include growing ACCA's influence and respect locally and globally and ensuring that the organisation delivers world class member and student services. 'I would like to see ACCA grow in influence and respect because it takes a stand on issues of substance and is seen as a respected commentator. For example, ACCA's global reach gives it the opportunity to have a positive influence in developing countries, and I want to broaden the spectrum of objectives beyond growth per se.' Blewitt believes that in a rapidly developing regulatory environment, ACCA's experience in global regulation will mean it has a strong offering to bring to the table in contributing to the regulatory development of professions worldwide. But members and student services are equally important to him. 'I want to take this opportunity to reassure members and students that, in addition to leading ACCA's staff, my experience on both sides of the association fence, both as a professional manager and as a volunteer on committees and taskforces, will help me to understand members' and students' needs and act as an advocate for the best possible member and student services,' he says. Asked how members and students could help ACCA, he responds: 'By at all times consistently badging themselves as proud ACCA members. The best possible way of promoting the brand is by 320,000 members and students acting as its ambassadors.' He adds that a priority within his own objectives is to ensure that ACCA consistently shows itself to be the best organisation to meet their needs and he intends to meet personally as many members as possible.

He has a track record of commitment to sustainable development in business and strongly believes that business ethics has a leading role in restoring the reputation of global business and that best ethical codes should be driven from the top. 'Companies need chief executives who are prepared to take tough decisions based on their code of ethics,' he says. But he concedes that it may be some time before ethics has taken what he sees as its rightful place at the heart of business. 'Commercial capitalism has a long way to go to persuade the public that it takes business ethics seriously.'

Blewitt is clearly enjoying his first weeks as ACCA's CEO. He acknowledges that it is a complex organisation, which will take some time fully to understand, but emphasises both his complete commitment to ACCA, its officers, council, members and students, and his confidence in ACCA's international staff. He has come a long way from Australia to join ACCA as its CEO at its London headquarters, but obviously relishes the prospect of a leading role in taking ACCA on the next stage of its journey as the world's local professional body. With a schedule which will in the next few days take him to Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and China he doesn't have long to wait.