The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus

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• ICPAC Overview

• Joint Examination Scheme

ACCA-ICPAC

• Continuing Professional

Development

• ICPAC as regulatory and

supervisory authority

• Capacities of a professional

accountant

• Practising the profession

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• Registers

• Monitoring

• Disciplinary Committee

• Cooperation with other

bodies / institutions

• PUBLIC OVERSIGHT BOARD

• TROIKA & other reviews

• Updating/supporting

Members

• Sundry

• Established in 1961

• ICPAC is the competent authority for regulating the

accounting / auditing profession in Cyprus.

• Numbers more than 3.600 professional accountants

as members, and around 3.000 students.

• Member composition: mainly ACCAs, ACAs, CPAs

and other professional accountants from other

countries.

• A private company limited by guarantee, under the

Companies Law (Cap. 113).

• Self Regulated body in 2001, by the amendment of

the Companies Law (L.76(I)/2001).

• In 2001, the Council of Ministers recognised ICPAC

as a competent authority for anti-money laundering

activities.

• In 2002, the Council of Ministers recognised ICPAC

as the official accounting body in Cyprus.

• To provide an organisational framework to all professional

accountants of Cyprus

• To provide professional training, guidance and education

to its members

• To regulate the profession, by means of issuing the

practising licences and monitor the work performed by the

practising members and their firms

• To ensure adherence to the Code of Ethics

• To promote the interests of the members and the

profession.

• Council of 14 members

• Each term is of 3 yrs duration

• Max consecutive terms per council member = 4

• President has a fixed 2-year term

• Works as a body and through 3 permanent

Committees for corporate governance purposes:

Audit committee

Nominations & Compensations committee

Risk Management committee

Investment committee

• Operates through ad hoc committees too.

Philippos Raptopoulos

Marios Skandalis

Spyros Spyrou

Demetris Taxitaris

Liakos Theodorou

Christos Vassiliou

Demetris Vakis - President

Demetris Halios - Vice President

Maria Pastellopoulou - Secretary

Members:

Andreas Andreou

Panicos Charalambous

Nicos Chimarides

Pieris Marcou

Stavros Pantzaris

Council composition

• 9 full time staff members:

– 1 General Manager, 1 Senior Officers, 7 officers and support

staff

• It operates via 24 specialised committees and

working groups

• It uses the services of specialised partners for

specific matters (outsourcing)

1. Accounting Standards

2. Administrative Service Providers

3. Advisory Services

4. Auditing Standards

5. Chief Financial Officers

6. Consultative Committee for SMPs

7. Corporate Governance, Internal

Audit and Risk Management

8. Economic Crime and Forensic

Accounting

9. Education

10.Energy

11.Financial Services

12. Insolvency

13. International Business and

Foreign Investment

14.Larnaca – Ammochostos

Coordinating Committee

15.Limassol – Paphos Coordinating

Committee

16.Public Relations

17.Public Sector

18.Shipping

19.Stock Exchange and Capital

Markets

20.Taxation

21.VAT

22.Specialized Working Group for

Compliance

23.Specialized Working Group for

Company Law

24.Specialized Working Group for

Ethics & Institutions Committee

• The Institute has adopted the IFAC Code of Ethics,

as it ethical code for all members.

• All members, irrespective of their professional

capacity, they abide by the Code of Ethics and

potential breach of the code constitutes a

disciplinary offence.

• Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (UK)

• Agreement for the outsourcing of the monitoring function

• Joint Examination Scheme ACCA/ICPAC

• Continuing Professional Development Schemes

• Institute of Chartered Accountants in England &

Wales

• Provision of technical support to members

• Other local arrangements for Tax & VAT support and

for AML training and support.

• Have attained university entrance or equivalent level,

possesses the prescribed practical experience and

has passed the prescribed examinations of

professional competence.

• Be a member of at least one of the corresponding

bodies of Professional Accountants of EU countries,as well as other international bodies.

• Succeed in the Joint Examination Scheme ACCA-

ICPAC.

• International Federation of Accountants

• European Federation of Accountants

• Mediterranean Federation of Accountants

ICPAC in numbers as at December 31, 2014:

No.

Members 3.555

Practising Members 1023

Practising Firms 622

J.E.S. Students 2904

Graduates 892

Practitioners as at December 31, 2014:

Type of Practising Certificate Members Firms

General Practising Certificate 1.023 622

Auditing 894 487

ASP 525 295

Number of Members, as at December 31, 2014:

Rate of Members’ growth Annual growth No.

2010 212 2.899

2011 210 3.109

2012 181 3.290

2013 110 3.400

2014 155 3.555

Practising Members as at December 31, 2014:

Type 2014 2013

Practising 1.023 904

Non-practising 2.532 2.496

Total 3.555 3.400

71%

29%

• ACCA and ICPAC partnered in a JES since 2004

• All ACCA students who are Cyprus residents are

automatically included in the JES

• The JES has 3 variant papers out of 14 papers:

F4 – Cyprus company law

F6 – Cyprus taxation

P6 – Cyprus advance taxation

More than 2.800 students follow JES

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• ICPAC has established its own CPD scheme, which

identical to that of ACCA.

• Valid CPD activity, is any training activity which is

related to the work and duties of each member.

• Required amount of CPD units = 40 p.a., of which 21

units must be verifiable.

• One net hour of training is equivalent to 1 CPD unit

• Submissions: Αnnual CPD declaration (mandatory)

CPD evidence review (upon request)

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• There are also 3 CPD schemes for employers:

– Approved Employer (trainee development)

– Approved Employer (professional development)

– Approved Employers (practising certificate

development audit)

• ICPAC, via ACCA, monitors the Approved Employer

Schemes on a regular basis.

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• The Auditors and Statutory Audits of Annual and

Consolidated Accounts Law (L.42(I)/2009)

• Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering

Activities Laws (L.188(I)/2007 and L.58(I)/2010)

• Law Regulating Companies Providing Administrative

Services and Related Matters (L.196(I)/2012)

• The Insolvency Practitioners Law (L.64(I)/2015)

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ICPAC, under the above laws,

• Licences (issues separates practising certificates)

• Monitors

• Disciplines, and

• Regulates

it members and their firms for the relevant services

offered by them.

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• Accountant

• Auditor

• Tax consultant

• Administrative

Service provider

• Co. manager

• Financial controller

• Internal auditor

• Banker

• Analyst

• Insolvency

Practitioner

• Fund manager

• Financial advisor

• Business consultant

• Investment analyst

• IT consultant

• Businessman

• Tuition provider

• + many more …

ICPAC members may be:

• Practising accountants/auditors/asp’s/ip’s

In public practice, holding a practising certificate. They

provide accounting, audit, tax, consulting, trustee,

administrative services, etc.

• Non-practising

Working in the public and private sector, banking

sector, from any post or role, without being required to

have a practising certificate.

Base certificate

Specialisation certificates

General PractisingCertificate

PractisingCertificate and

Audit Qualification

Provision of Administrative

Services

Insolvency Practitioner

Practising

Certificate

Auditing

Certificate

Provision of

Administrative

Services

– Members Register

– Register of Students

– Register of Graduate Accountants

– Practising Members Register (per p/c

issued)

– Practising Firms Register (per p/c issued)

– Register of Insolvency Practitioners

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– Register of Trusts

– Register of subsidiary co’s of ASP licensed

firms

– Register of staff of ASP licensed firms

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ICPAC currently performs the following types of

monitoring visits:

– The Audit Monitoring, for all statutory auditors

and audit firms

– The AML/Rules and Regulations review, for

ALL LICENSED FIRMS

Both have been outsourced to ACCA

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ICPAC has outsourced this function to ACCA

since 2005, in order to capitalise on:

• Their broader experience and knowhow on

the subject

• Their independence from the Cypriot market

• Their universal application of a similar

process (as those followed in UK and other

countries)

• The scope of the audit monitoring visit is to assess

the adherence to the Auditor’s Law, the accounting

and auditing standards, ISQC 1, Code of Ethics and

the ICPAC Regulations. (Commenced in 2005)

• The AML/Rules and Regulations review assesses the

adherence to the AML Directive of ICPAC, the AML

Law, the ASP Law, the Code of Ethics and the

Regulations of the Institute.

• Both follow a 6-year monitoring cycle, except for the

audit firms which have PIEs as clients (3-year cycle).31

Visits performed

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No of visits 9/2015 2014 2013 2012

162 195 185 58

OFFSITE SURVEILLANCE

• Data for all firms is gathered via a standardised

questionnaire

• Data is processed electronically and a risk score is

calculated for every firm

• The firms are classified into three categories, being,

High – Medium – Low risk

• Data is collected on an annual basis, hence once a

year the risk scoring exercise is repeated.

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ONSITE INSPECTION

• Depending on the results of the risk scoring, the

sample for the onsite visits is selected

• There is priority on High risk firms

• Other factors are also taken into consideration in order

to determine the sample, such as the size of the firm

and the previous visit results

• The onsite inspection is done using ACCA’s

monitoring programmes (separate for audit and AML).

• Visit cycle is every 6 years, apart from audit firms

which have PIE clients [reviewed every 3 years]. 34

ONSITE INSPECTION (cont’d)

• The onsite inspection for the AML/Rules and

Regulations review looks into, inter alia, the following:

– The client acceptance procedures

– The KYC and Customer Due Diligence performed

– Identification of Politically Exposed Persons

– Keeping of proper documentation and accounting records

– The AML Procedures Manual and the Compliance Officer

– Information about any Ultimate Beneficial Owners

– Reporting of any suspicious transactions

– Education and Training.

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• Matters arising from the monitoring visits are

referred to the Regulatory Committee.

• This is a body independent from the Council

and the management of the Institute, that

examines the unsatisfactory outcomes of

visits and imposes measures on the firms for

improvement.

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• This is a body independent from the Council and the

management of the Institute, where complaints,

accusations and other allegations are filed.

• Mainly deals with matters arising form breach of

Laws and Regulations, of the Code of Ethics and for

conduct and professional issues.

• Comprises of 15 members (8 non-ICPAC members:7

ICPAC members) and each tribunal consists of 5

members.

• The examiner of each allegation and the prosecutor

are usually a lawyer.

• The decisions of the Disciplinary Committee are

publicised both in the quarterly magazine

“Accountancy Cyprus” and on the website of the

Institute.

ICPAC, within its scope as a regulatory authority,

cooperates closely with:

• Tax Department

• Auditor General

• Accountant General

• Registrar of Companies

• Cyprus Stock Exchange

• KEBE

• OEB

• Cyprus Bar Association

• Cyprus Banks Association

• Cyprus Shipping Chamber

• Ministry of Finance

• Ministry of Energy,

Commerce, Industry and

Tourism

• Parliament

• Public Oversight Board

• CIPA

• Cyprus Securities and

Exchange Commission

• Central Bank of Cyprus

• MOKAS

All statutory auditors and ICPAC, as a

licensing body, are under the supervision of

the Public Oversight Board, as appointed by

the Council of Ministers in accordance with

the Auditors Law (L.42(I)/2009).

ICPAC is under the quarterly review of TROIKA

regarding its role as a competent authority

under the AML and the ASP Laws.

ICPAC is committed to the Action Plan given by

TROIKA and the results so far indicate

compliance with the required actions.

:

ICPAC falls under the review and assessment

of other bodies too, such as:

• Moneyval

• Global Forum for Transparency and

Exchange of Information on Tax Matters

• World Bank, in the National Risk Assessment

project

• EU Commission

:

This has been effected via:

- Seminars & Presentations

- Circulars

- Announcements

Support agreements have been made with

companies both local and abroad for the

provision of specialised guidance and support.

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Support to members in cooperation with:

• AML & compliance:

• IFRS/Audit/Ethics:

• Tax support: Neofytos Neofytou

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InBusiness magazine

presented ICPAC with

the “Professional

Association of the Year

Award”

for 2009.

www.icpac.org.cy