Maintain ethics: Gurumurthy to CAs

Noted columnist and chartered accountant (CA) S Gurumurthy on Tuesday urged all fellow CAs to maintain high ethical standards and cultivate intellectual content.

Speaking at a CA council meeting here ahead of its elections, he expressed concern over the lack of ethics during the last three elections to the council and regional councils of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), and said there was no collective approach for finding solutions.

The drop in ethics has been particularly steep since the last 20 years, he said, adding that CAs have become more materialistic than professionals.

He said chartered accountancy was an intelligent profession, but has failed to cultivate intellectual content. He rued that rules were being framed but not being followed, and added that the profession needs a role model. In order to stem the rot, Gurumurthy suggested that a group of professionals put their heads together to reform the system.

With the ICAI elections barely three days away, there were complaints of midnight text messages by some members. Members also rued the lack of ethics during the election campaign.