ACCA fellow member facing allegations of dishonesty, or in the alternative a failure to demonstrate integrity succeeds at a Disciplinary Committee hearing

In May 2025 Afshan Ali alongside Matthew Corrie represented an ACCA fellow before ACCA’s Disciplinary Committee in relation to an alleged breach of the Money Laundering Regulations and the ACCA’s Code of Ethics.

Facts of the case

The ACCA fellow had his own accountancy practice and is a sole trader. During a routine AML Risk Assessment Questionnaire, the ACCA fellow declared that they had conducted a firm-wide risk assessment for their firm, and it was documented, and the firm had documented AML policies and procedures in place. The ACCA alleged that this declaration was inaccurate and therefore the member was dishonest or, in the alternative, failed to demonstrate integrity. ACCA further alleged that the ACCA fellow failed to demonstrate on behalf of their firm it had complied with the requirements of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations namely Regulation 18 (risk assessment); 19 (Policies, controls and procedures); 27 & 28 (Customer Due Diligence); 33 (Enhanced Customer Due Diligence) and by reason of their conduct they were guilty of Misconduct pursuant to Bye-Law 8(a)(i) or liable to disciplinary action.

The matter was referred to a Disciplinary Committee hearing.

Work Conducted

The ACCA fellow admitted signing the declaration, however, denied that they were dishonest, or that they had failed to demonstrate integrity. They also denied breach of Regulations 27 & 28, and 33.

Afshan Ali and Matthew Corrie prepared this case for a Disciplinary Committee hearing, taking detailed instructions and preparing a robust response to the allegations.

Outcome

At the hearing before the Disciplinary Committee, only those allegations that had been admitted were found ‘proved’. The ACCA fellow was acquitted of all allegations they had denied and no misconduct was found.

The ACCA fellow was therefore only liable to Disciplinary Action in respect of those matters admitted.

Having heard our submissions on behalf of the fellow, the panel were persuaded to simply issue a Reprimand with an order of costs which was 60% less than ACCA’s claim for costs.

If you are facing a Disciplinary Committee hearing and would like advice and assistance from our specialist professional disciplinary lawyers, please contact the accountancy team for assistance.