England and Wales, Sri Lanka discuss moves to further develop chartered accountancy in both countrie

The country’s national accounting body, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) together with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW), a world leader of the accountancy and finance profession on Tuesday pledged to further develop chartered accountancy in the two countries as a result of the reciprocal agreement signed between the two institutes in October 2010.

At a presentation which showcased the benefits and scope of the ICASL-ICAEW reciprocal agreement, Justin West, ICAEW’s Head of New Business Opportunities declared that the two institutes were looking at going beyond exchanging membership and was seriously focusing how the two institutes can share talent, ideas and technical expertise which will help take the profession forward.

In a detailed presentation, West who articulated the international recognition possessed by ICAEW and thereby the benefits that members can enjoy with an ICAEW membership, disclosed that within the next six months, both Institutes will make an announcement on the tangible benefits that its members can enjoy which would help in the further development of their professional goals.

“We have had positive discussions on how to take this agreement forward with deeper collaboration and we hope to make an announcement in around six months on the tangible benefits of this agreement,” West noted.

The ICASL is among just a handful of national institutes which enjoys an agreement of such magnitude with ICAEW, which boast of a membership of more than 136,000 from over 160 countries.

ICASL President Sujeewa Mudalige stressed that the ICASL and ICAEW share an impressive relationship which goes back many decades.

“The ICAEW helped to establish the ICASL in 1959 and incidentally, all our founder members were members of the ICAEW and this agreement further cements the linkage we share with ICAEW,” he disclosed.

He emphasised that the ICASL was looking for deeper technical collaboration with the ICAEW, so that the ICASL can enjoy access to ICAEW’s technical databases and conference literature which will be extremely useful to the institute and its members.

He also announced that since the signing of the agreement between the two institutes last October, a large number of ICASL members have decided to obtain membership from the ICAEW and several members from the ICAEW have also applied for the membership from ICASL.   “For younger members who aspire to work in the United Kingdom or in the continent, a membership from the ICAEW will indeed be very useful and helpful,” Mudalige noted.

Meanwhile, the ICAEW has extended the fee waiver valued at £900 offered to all ICASL members till September 2011, who wish to join the ICAEW.