The Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean (ICAC) is an association of accounting organizations in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

region that promotes professionalism and standards of best practice in the region.

Purpose

The ICAC was incorporated as a company on October 28, 1988 under the laws of Jamaica. Aims are to promote international standards for best accountancy practices, to build a strong and cohesive Accountancy profession, and to encourage exchange of ideas and information between accountants who belong to the member bodies. The ICAC supports self-regulation based on a regional monitoring program, and encourages standardization of qualifications and professional conduct rules. The institute seeks to give leadership on issues that affect the accounting profession in the region.

Activities

Following the meltdown of

Enron Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...

at the end of 2001, ICAC came under increasing pressure to improve oversight of the accounting industry. In July 2003 ICAC was planning to introduce a regional practice-monitoring system to enhance the regulatory capacity of the profession. After a number of corporate failures during the late-2000s financial crisis, ICAC announced a scheme in November 2008 under which all members of the accounting Institutes in Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago who performed audits would receive at least one monitoring visit during the six-year period starting in 2009. As of 2009, all Caribbean islands that are part of ICAC had to undergo peer review except Jamaica, which was regulated by a public accountant oversight board. ICACs emphasis on self-regulation and peer review has been criticized, since it is difficult to guarantee independence with the small numbers of professional accountants in each member state. In 2006, ICAC was helping its member institutes to prepare for the

Caribbean Single Market The CARICOM Single Market and Economy, also known as the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), is an integrated development strategy envisioned at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM ...

(CSM). The ICAC 2011 annual meeting, held in the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on 23–25 June 2011, attracted about 1,000 accountants from across the region.

Membership

Members are *

Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants The Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) is a professional body that regulates the accountancy industry in the Bahamas. In theory anyone approved by the relevant government ministry can act as an independent auditor, but in practice, ...

, *

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados (ICAB) is a professional accountancy body in Barbados. It is the sole organisation in Barbados with the right to award the Chartered Accountant designation. ICAB is a member of the International ...

, *

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Belize Institute of Chartered Accountants of Belize (ICAB) is a professional accountancy body in Belize. It is the sole organization in Belize with the right to award the Chartered Accountant designation. ICAB is a member of the Institute of Chartered ...

, *

Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Eastern Caribbean The Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Eastern Caribbean (ICAEC) is a professional accountancy body formed on June 17, 2004 representing accountants in the Eastern Caribbean, including Grenada, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia and Antigua & Barb ...

, *

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana (ICAG) is a professional body in Guyana that regulates the accountancy industry and arranges for ongoing training of its members. History Until 1956, accountants in Guyana belonged to the UK-based ...

, *

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica (ICAJ) is a professional accountancy body in Jamaica. It is the sole organisation in Jamaica with the right to award the Chartered Accountant designation. History ICAJ was established in 1965, ...

, *

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Trinidad and Tobago The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Trinidad and Tobago (ICATT) is a professional accountancy body in Trinidad and Tobago. It is the sole organization in Trinidad and Tobago with the right to award the Chartered Accountant designation. ICAT ...

and *

Suriname Chartered Accountants Institute Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

. Associate member *

Turks and Caicos Islands Society of Professional Accountants Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

(TCISPA), Affiliates are * American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, *

Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada) (french: Comptables professionnels agréés du Canada) is the national organization representing the Canadian accounting profession through the unification of the three largest accounting o ...

(CPA-Canada), *

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Founded in 1904, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (ACCA). It has 240,952 members and 541,930 future members worldwid ...

(ACCA), *

Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accounting Chartered may refer to: * Charter, a legal document conferring rights or privileges ** University charter ** Chartered company * Chartered (professional), a professional credential * Charter (shipping) * Charter (airlines) * Charter (typeface) * Cha ...

(CIPFA). As of 2008 ICAC was continuing membership discussions with the Cayman Islands Society of Professional Accountants from the previous year, and was also discussing membership with the recently formed

British Virgin Islands Association of Professional Accountants British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

(BVIAPA) and

Suriname Association of Accountants Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

(SUVA). The Suriname Association of Accountants was an associate of ICAC in 2011.

References

{{reflist , refs= {{cite web , url=http://www.icac.org.jm/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=31 , title=Goals and Objectives , publisher=ICAC , accessdate=2011-07-01