REPORT OF THE ROUNDTABLE WITH ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONALS HELD AT

THE ACCA LAGOS OFFICE VICTORIA ISLAND, LAGOS ON 26TH AND 27TH

NOVEMBER 2018

IMPACT Project supported the round table with Accounting professionals on November 26th and 27th 2018 at the ACCA Lagos office, Victoria Island, Lagos. The roundtable with the theme- Promoting Increased Commitment to Transparency, Accountability and Integrity Among Professionals. The roundtable was organized by Integrity Organisation LTD (GTE) in conjunction with the ACCA and in collaboration with CISLAC and TI Nigeria with funding from Global Affairs Canada

Table of Contents Day 1- Nov. 26th 2018 ................................................................................................................................ 2

DAY 2 – Nov 27th 2018 .............................................................................................................................. 4

NEXT STEPS ............................................................................................................................................... 5

APPENDIX 1- PICTURES ............................................................................................................................. 5

APPENDIX 2 – List of Participants ............................................................................................................. 5

Day 1- Nov. 26th 2018

Integrity Organisation LTD (GTE) in conjunction with the ACCA and in collaboration with CISLAC

and TI Nigeria with funding from Global Affairs Canada as part of the IMPACT Project organized

a round table with Accounting professionals on November 26th and 27th 2018 at the ACCA Lagos

office, Victoria Island, Lagos. The roundtable with the theme- Promoting Increased Commitment

to Transparency, Accountability and Integrity Among Professionals attracted Accountants in

practice, Audit Experts, Tax professional and Finance experts drawn from the Private and Public

Sector.

The roundtable had the following objectives-

• To Recruit for Collective Action

• To Promote the codification of good practice

• To Identify a platform for volunteers to try out good practice measures

• To Underscore clear reasons why these should be adopted

The goal of the roundtable was to have more Nigerian Professional Services Firms being certified

as complying with International anti-corruption Standards with the envisaged goal of having

Nigerian Professional Services firms build and maintain Integrity measurably.

The roundtable commenced on both days with a welcome remark by the ACCA’s Aderonke

Adebule, Regional Business Development Head, Lagos & West at ACCA. In her remarks, she

informed participants that their participation in the roundtable will earn them 4 Continuous

Professional Development (CPD) points in addition to exposing them to the new way of doing

business with Integrity. This was followed by remarks from TI/CISLAC Kola Banwo who in his

remarks underline the important role of professionals in the fight against corruption and the need

for professionals to join hands with organised Civil Society in combatting money laundering and

other forms of corruption. Soji Apampa, Executive Director, Integrity Organisation thereafter led

the participants in introducing themselves and organisations they work with.

The introductions were followed by a brief introduction to the objectives and goals of the roundtable as well as its envisaged impact. In introducing participants to the aims, objectives and envisaged impact of the project, Soji Apampa started with the background of the Panama papers and the Bahamas leaks which revealed the role of professionals in facilitating illicit financial flows from commercial sources as well as tax avoidance and clouding the beneficial owners of assets around the globe. This has resulted in the searchlight being beamed on professionals and their role in the facilitation of corrupt practices and corruption tainted transactions be it in real estate, setting up of shell companies, tax avoidance, illicit financial flows etc. It is against this background that the British Government in 2016 convoked the London Anti-Corruption Summit.

The Summit called on countries to regulate and effectively supervise the legal, accounting, property, trust and company services sectors and support the promotion of global industry best practice in these sectors to underpin full and consistent implementation of FATF standards globally. In response to this call by World Leaders, the Leading Professional Services firms made a public commitment to “Strengthen trust within society, carry out our work with due consideration of the public interest, prevent the proceeds of crime and corruption from entering legitimate capital and investment markets and work with each other and the private sector to drive out those lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, trust and company service providers, and other professional service providers who facilitate or are complicit in corruption and to deprive them of the opportunity to carry out professional activities in future”.

In the conversation that ensued after being introduced to the objectives, aims and expected impact of the project, participants made the following observations-

1. That corruption in Nigeria is endemic, pervasive and entrenched. That corruption in Nigeria is in fact the largest religion with adherents cutting across religions and ethnic divide

2. That junior professionals are especially vulnerable to corruption due to pressure from seniors and the fact that they are considered dispensable when they refuse to be compromised or do the biddings of senior professionals

3. That the absence of rewards for firms doing or willing to do the right things is a major disincentive for firms and professionals doing the right things

4. That the absence of sanctions for organisations/professionals engaging in corrupt acts/practices incentivises wrong doing among professionals/firms

Following the initial comments and observations, the session on the business case for being measurably integrity certified followed. The session looked at the Institutional, Situational, and Behavioural challenges that professionals/businesses face in making ethical choices in the way and manner they attract and retain business and given these challenges the stimulus for any change will have to come from outside the current environment. The challenge of legislations with extra territorial reach such as the UK Bribery Act, the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) which requires that businesses wishing to do business in frontier markets such as Nigeria show that they have adequate measures in place to reduce their corruption susceptibilities was identified as a compelling reason for professional service firms to show verifiable proof of compliance. This is addition to the emerging opportunities being promoted by various countries seeking to expand and encourage growth of their companies such as the Business Integrity Initiative (BII) of the British Government and the Ethics First African Initiative of the US based Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) which can only be taken advantage of by firms who can show proof of auditable compliance with basic ethical standards. Thereafter, the roundtable moved into the overview of auditable and measurable standards

including - ISO 37001 Anti-Bribery Management Systems, Governance and Controls Based on

COSO 2013 and the CIPE Anti-corruption compliance framework and the basic thread running

common to each of the compliance standards. The session was facilitated by Dr Nechi Ezeako,

the Executive Director of the Institute of Directors’ Centre for Corporate Governance (IoDCCG).

In the ensuing interactions that followed, the following issues were highlighted-

1. Questions around organizational/individual certification in the proposed certification process

2. The role of the public service and the challenge posed by the public sector 3. The need to target organization structures with decision making powers to get

commitments at the very top management level 4. The need to help those who may require assistance in getting their organisations to

volunteer to join the pilot stage of certification process The roundtable rounded up with next steps including 1 volunteer signing up and 7 people who indicated that they will require assistance in getting their organisations to volunteer to join the pilot stage of certification process. A total of 30 participants were present at the roundtable which came to an end around 2.30pm

DAY 2 – Nov 27th 2018

Day 2 of the roundtable had a total of 53 participants in attendance. The day commenced with a

welcome remark by the ACCA’s Aderonke Adebule, Regional Business Development Head, Lagos

& West at ACCA. This was followed by remarks from TI/CISLAC Kola Banwo who in his remarks

underline the important role of professionals in the fight against corruption and the need for

professionals to join hands with organised Civil Society in combatting money laundering and

other forms of corruption. Soji Apampa, Executive Director, Integrity Organisation thereafter led

the participants in introducing themselves and organisations they work

After the introductions, Soji Apampa too participants through the workshop objectives as well as

the background to the roundtable. This was followed by interactive session during which

participants made the following observations-

1. The need to sensitize and create awareness among professionals and the public about the certification process

2. The challenging nature of the Nigerian environment vis-à-vis doing what is right given that success is associated with corruption and wrong doing

3. The need for incentives so as to get people to doing the right thing 4. The challenge of ensuring adherence to standards of behaviour and conduct 5. The need for adequate rules and regulations to ensure continuous compliance with

standards 6. The need for professionals to immediately wake up and make the necessary change

knowing that it is never too late to change

The session on the overview of auditable and measurable standards including - ISO 37001

Anti-Bribery Management Systems, Governance and Controls Based on COSO 2013 and the

CIPE Anti-corruption compliance framework and the basic thread running common to each

of the compliance standards was Facilitated by Cynthia Akpomudiare of the Convention on

Business Integrity (CBi). Following the session, there was general interactions among

participants and the facilitator during which the following key points emerged-

1. The need to broaden participation in the certification process and make it popular rather than something for just a select few

2. The need for disincentivize deviant behavior among organisations and professionals 3. The need to reach out to new generation of professionals especially in the various training

institutions and professional bodies. 4. The need to project credible success stories of those doing right and doing good. 5. The need for enforcement and sanctions for errant behavior so as push compliance 6. The need to fashion a means of reaching those with decision making powers within

organisations so as to get them to sign onto the certification process

The second day came to an end around 3pm

NEXT STEPS

Given the enthusiastic response to the roundtable and the likelihood that we will be having some

money left from the second tranche of the funds for this activity, we are proposing hosting an additional

roundtable in Enugu or Aba (location to be confirmed) next year. We hope this will be additional value

added as we will be able to reach additional professionals in addition to the 83-people reached during

this round of roundtable

APPENDIX 1- PICTURES

Day 1: https://drive.google.com/open?id=149D4SZgOsNFnqk0Eohr3DjAi_h8izpHy

Day 2: https://drive.google.com/open?id=19-arEsjYpGGXRMAFtIr4K4K20OpkWb5M

APPENDIX 2 – List of Participants

Day 1: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1x0ddF2gDyXUfqir0aYDRJCVO-In0UvOV

Day 2: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-BYdh8wURzQo2PWyqTlVovifeqNMm6R9