From AFR today:
As part of his quest to market himself and his previously sleepy accountants’ body, CPA Australia, Malley hired the first man on the moon to visit Australia in 2011 for $US250,000 to $US300,000, according to a source.
Separately, Malley appeared to have recorded a separate interview with Armstrong at the time that was posted in four parts on the CPA website. Armstrong’s representatives thought they had an agreement it would be restricted to CPA members, the source said.
Not only was the interview initially available for anyone with an internet connection to watch – Malley would claim it reached one billion people – he offered it to the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes, according to the source.
…Somehow Armstrong’s lawyers became aware the interview was being offered to television stations and wrote to the CPA complaining it was a breach of their agreement, the source said.
Online links to the interview on the CPA website no longer work and the interview appears to have been removed from the internet.
And The Australian:
CPA Australia director David Spong has become the fourth member of the embattled accounting body’s board to resign in the past fortnight as a crisis over the reign of chief executive Alex Malley continues to roil the organisation.
In a statement posted to the CPA Australia website yesterday, new president Jim Dickson said an emergency board meeting would be held today to discuss “a systematic campaign of undermining” mounted by a media organisation he did not name.
…In accounts filed last week with corporate regulator the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, CPA also admitted its financial advice subsidiary has lost $7.4m since opening its doors in 2015. It is believed ASIC has been monitoring issues at CPA but it is not clear whether the regulator has decided to launch a full-scale investigation.
This is what comes of the “stick your head in the sand” crisis strategy, previously via AFR:
In a decision that will shock certified practicing accountants across Australia, NSW Fair Trading Minister Matt Kean has been told by the NSW Crown Solicitor that he should not approve a new professional standards scheme for CPA Australia when the current one expires in October.
The scheme gives CPA Australia the responsibility to regulate the industry and discipline members. Crucially, it limits the liability of accountants in public practice to $2 million, $10 million or $75 million, depending on the size of their business. Without that protection, many CPAs would stop operating, accountants say.
“I’m deeply concerned that CPA Australia may have compromised its ability to maintain the professional standards of its members and I’m deeply concerned about CPA Australia exposing their members to significant liability,” Mr Kean said in an exclusive interview with The Australian Financial Review.
“There are serious question marks around the governance of this organisation which has left them in this position.”
CPA Australia’s decision to open a financial planning business providing financial services through representatives, including CPA members, puts it into competition with its own members, the Crown Solicitor’s office said.
It’s not the only area where the body is inappropriately competing with members. Recall from several days ago:
CPA Australia is waiving charges to assess visa applications by foreigners if they agree to join the accountancy body…
A top accountant from Sri Lanka said that accountants overseas were joining CPA Australia because they thought it would help them get a visa even though they weren’t qualified to work in Australia…
Foreign accountants who ring a CPA hotline seeking information about Australian work visas are being told CPA Australia will waive their assessment fee of $520 if they join. Membership fees range from $144 to $720 depending on each member’s level of practice.
As a legally accredited migration assessment agency, CPA sets standards for accountants, accredits them and assesses the qualifications and work history of foreign accountants seeking to work in Australia…
This combined role has helped drive CPA’s growth overseas to the point where its foreign operations subsidise its Australian operations, according to its annual reports…
CPA Australia is launching a membership drive this month in Sri Lanka. Some foreign accountants believe that signing up will help them get Australian work visas… [But] “CPA Australia membership does not have any impact on migration status,” CPA Australia spokesperson Stuart Dignam said…
The CPA successfully lobbied to keep accountants among the occupations permitted visas under the 457 temporary skilled work scheme that will be replaced by the Temporary Skill Shortage scheme next year. Some local accounting graduates complain they can’t get jobs…
As shown in the table below, accountants are one of the heaviest users of skilled visas:
And this comes despite accounting being one of the areas with the biggest surplus of workers, according to the Department of Employment:
By supporting the flooding of the accounting market with supply, the Naked CEO has been feathering his own $1.8m nest while deflating the income prospects of his members.
Yet the response today is borderline absurd, also at the AFR:
The CPA Australia board is scheduled to meet next on June 23, a full two weeks from now. That’s right, a quarter of their number (including the president) has resigned with immediate effect, the organisation’s disclosures are in apparent breach of corporations law and a burgeoning group of members are in revolt, but the surviving directors can’t see any pressing reason to convene without delay. Can you believe it? To wit, the mind-boggling latitude disruptive CEO Alex Malley has been making the very most of.
And now CPA’s whole business model is imperilled by management’s incompetence.
Time for disruptive action from the board.
