Auditors question ICAG’s motive behind suspension of licence and membership

Nov 14, 2024 News

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Kaieteur News- Auditors George Vaughn of SFAI Guyana – Vaughn Business Solutions and Andre Davis of AMD Financial Services are questioning the motive behind the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana’s (ICAG) decision to suspend their licence and membership.

The suspension, recently made public in the newspapers, was announced in a notice dated November 6, 2024. Vaughn, along with Azzar Haniff of Eclisar Financial and Professional Services, both had their ICAG memberships suspended for 2024, meaning they can no longer issue statutory audit opinions under Section 170 of the Companies Act. Additionally, the notice stated that Davis’s certificate to practice was suspended pending an investigation, also restricting his ability to issue statutory audit opinions under the Act.

During an interview, Vaughn explained that he first learned of his suspension when he received a WhatsApp message on Sunday containing the notice that had been published in the newspapers. “They never called me to a meeting, never brought a charge against me or anything, but I just saw this. All my clients are calling concerned what is really going on. I can’t answer because I don’t know why they would suspend my membership,” he added.

Vaughn noted that auditors are required to renew their ICAG membership and licence annually. He has also been a long-standing member of the Guam Board of Accountancy and has been an ICAG member for over a decade, though he’s had to take legal action to secure his practice licence, which he still has not received.

He explained that he reapplied for his practice licence two months ago.  “My lawyer would have submitted the application. They never responded to the application, but lo and behold, Sunday they put in the paper that they suspended my (membership),” the auditor added.

Besides, Vaughn noted that he holds a practice certificate from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) which allows him to execute his work. “So this here, what they are doing is to tarnish the firm…they never called me, I don’t even know the reason why they suspended my membership,” Vaughn noted.

He disclosed that the publication by ICAG of his membership being suspended when he is not aware of any wrongdoings from his end does have a negative effect on his reputation. He revealed that the ICAG’s decision has negatively impacted his reputation, especially with overseas clients who have since contacted him. “I would have told them that I would have engaged a lawyer to look into the matter, because I really don’t know what is the matter. What’s the reason for them suspending my membership because they didn’t call me, and I’m not privy to the reason for them suspending my membership,” he noted. “So, I would have covered all the requirements, basically, not just to be a member for them, but also to have a practice licence,” Vaughn added.

For his part, Davis told this publication that his practice licence that he received from the ICAG in January 2024 has now been suspended. He explained in his case, he did not have a practice licence for auditing and accounting from another institute or organisation so he had to serve two years under a practising person before he could have applied to the ICAG for his licence.

He said after serving his two years, he applied to the ICAG for his practising licence and it was granted six months after he made his application. “They wrote me just out of the blues, saying that they suspended my licence…their reason was since I became a member of the local institute, I did not renew my foreign licence to practice,” Davis explained.

In his response to ICAG’s letter, Davis said that he indicated to them that he is still a member of the Guam Board of Accountancy.  He added that he also disclosed that he did not renew his foreign licence because he did not intend to practice in that jurisdiction. “I received membership here (Guyana), and my intention is to stay in my country and practice,” he added.

Moreover, Davis added that ICAG’s first letter to him referenced a mutual client, initially contracted through Vaughn. “Because of the challenge he (Vaughn) was having with them and the licence and them writing and stuff like that, trying to block the activities and the ability to properly ply a trade as an accountant…because of that, he (Vaughn) approached me,” Davis said as he explained how he started working with Vaughn.

Davis told this publication that he suspects a connection between him and Vaughn’s suspensions. “It seems as though it’s an arbitrary and malicious attack to damage the image of a certain class or a certain group of accountants,” he noted.

In a correspondence to ICAG, Davis said that he disclosed that he was appointed the auditor for a client for whom he had published a report. However, according to him, ICAG requested that he submits his audit files and other documents as evidence, without specifying the grounds under which this information was being requested. Davis pointed out that there are only three conditions for such document release: a court subpoena, an ICAG investigation, or an audit/peer review. As the reason was unclear, he objected.

Davis suspects that the reason behind him and Vaughn’s suspension of membership and practising licence, respectively, is because they have the contract with the client. “We receive other information that one of the prominent persons of the institute, who’s central to what’s happening here, has approached the client, and that client also does accounting work and provide other services for other oil and gas clients or companies…” Davis further disclosed. In addition, Vaughn explained that the ICAG was put in place to police auditors not to restrict entry to the profession. “What they are doing is restricting entry into the profession,” he said.

(Auditors question ICAG’s motive behind suspension of licence and membership)

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• Andre Davis, Audit, auditors, George Vaughn, IACG

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