ICAB terms ICMAB’s claims ‘misleading and unprofessional’

Chartered accountants yesterday described the claims by cost and management accountants regarding audit rights as "misleading and unprofessional".

At a press conference in Dhaka, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) rejected the allegations made by the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) about audit capacity, professional roles, and sectoral responsibilities.

The ICAB said the accusations were "factually incorrect".

The response came two days after the ICMAB called for cost and management accountants to be given audit roles. The body had claimed its members were capable of meeting the country's audit needs and pointed to a supposed shortage of auditors.

It also alleged that a weak auditing ecosystem had enabled the laundering of $17 billion over the past 15 years, contributed to the rise of non-performing loans, fuelled a stock market crisis, and deterred foreign investment.

At the press conference, ICAB President Maria Howlader dismissed all the accusations, calling them "baseless".

"It is undoubtedly regrettable that a national institution like ICMAB would engage in such unprofessional conduct by spreading misinformation and flashy statistics to mislead the nation," she said.

Howlader said that since independence, Bangladesh had undergone many political and economic shifts, yet the ICAB had consistently supported nation-building with political neutrality and a strong commitment to standards and transparency.

She argued that blaming auditors for alleged money laundering, the rise in bad loans, the share market crisis, and reduced foreign investment showed a clear intention to defame the profession.

On the claim that the country lacks auditors for its firms, Howlader pointed out that if the National Board of Revenue's Document Verification System (DVS) is considered, the number of active companies is closer to 60,000, rather than 300,000.

The DVS was introduced to verify the authenticity of audited accounts.

At the press briefing, the ICAB disputed ICMAB's figure about chartered accountants.

Howlader said Bangladesh has 613 practising chartered accountants, supported by another 145 qualified accountants and more than 12,000 professional accounting staff, all working across 259 firms.

However, ICMAB earlier said that the number of practising chartered accountants is around 500, while the number of overall professionals is 2,000.

Howlader added that the number of active entities is much lower than the total registered, a point that even ICMAB acknowledges.

She said that in 2024, nearly 58,000 Document Verification Codes were generated to confirm accounts audited by chartered accountants, matching the number of tax returns filed. This, she argued, shows there is no shortage of auditors.

The ICAB also rejected ICMAB's claim that it is a founding member of the International Federation of Accountants. Only ICAB holds that position on behalf of Bangladesh, it said.

Hours after ICAB's press conference, the ICMAB issued a statement standing by its claims.

It called for urgent talks at the highest level, overseen by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) as well as the commerce and finance ministries.