ICAS Ethics Board

Ethics and integrity are at the heart of the professional responsibilities of ICAS members.

The Ethics Board’s mission is to provide knowledge, guidance and assistance to ICAS members in order that they may meet the ethical responsibilities of their profession; and to support, guide, and challenge the ICAS leadership with its strategic goal “To become a global leader in the application of professional ethics.”

The Board will seek to achieve this mission by meeting the following objectives which are in line with the ICAS strategic goals. It is recognised that the responsibility for achieving the ICAS strategic goal “to become a global leader in the application of professional ethics” does not rest solely with the Board. The Board will therefore seek assistance from the ICAS community to meet the following objectives as and when appropriate.

For the avoidance of doubt, it is not the responsibility of the Board to respond to, or investigate, complaints or accusations made against members of the Institute. Such matters are the responsibility of the Regulation division.

The Ethics Board objectives are:

  • to be relevant to ICAS members’interests throughout their training and subsequent careers and in all of the main locations and sectors in which ICAS members operate, by being knowledgeable and aware of the latest issues in ethics, by emphasising the importance of behaving ethically, and providing support material to help them personally, and their organisations, embed ethics.
  • to be connected with ICAS members through a variety of ICAS communication channels to engage in communities and networks which will keep the membership informed about developments in ethics and related matters which will help to ensure they exhibit appropriate professional behaviour.
  • to promote trust in ICAS members, the accountancy profession and in business by sustaining the highest standards of ethics and seek to ensure that ICAS members are aware of the need to operate to the highest standards of professional practice in the public interest.
  • to deploy a public voice which offers independent, timely, insightful and practical thought leadership and guidance on ethics and related matters to the membership, public, the business world, government, regulatory and other stakeholders, increasingly on a global basis.
  • to promote The Power of One motif, amongst the ICAS membership, the profession and business.

Board members

Loree Gourley (Chair)

Loree has more than 20 years of experience in the life science domain focusing on medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and more recently the capital markets serving both business-to-business and business-to-government in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.

She joined EY UK LLP in June of 2015 as the Director of Regulatory & Public Policy responsible for addressing key national and international regulatory & policy matters affecting both EY and its clients. This involves regular dialogue with government, regulators, professional bodies and other stakeholders including the institutional investors, clients and leading academics.

Loree completed her full-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM) in Sydney, Australia. After her MBA she furthered her studies part-time at Columbia Business School in New York City learning more about building trustworthy organisations and the important role that corporate culture plays.

Rick Clark

Rick is an experienced CFO and investor working in the oilfield services sector currently with Safehouse Habitats, the market-leading provider of pressurised enclosures for performing work in explosive or otherwise hazardous environments.

Rick's prior career was as an audit partner with KPMG, with whom he was with for 25 years.

He is also a non-executive director of software company TPLD Ltd, and a trustee of Dundee Heritage Trust which owns and operates RRS Discovery, Discovery Point and Scotland’s Jute Museum@Verdant Works.

Samuel Ennis

Samuel is a Senior Tax Manager for PricewaterhouseCoopers. Samuel is a qualified Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, as well as being a member of the Association of Tax Technicians.

Samuel specialises in providing International Corporation Tax advice.

Samuel views ethics as the bedrock of a successful business and is very passionate about encouraging ethics at a corporate and individual level.

Susanne Godfrey

Susanne is currently the Group Finance Director for Anderson Strathern LLP.  She was a Director in PwC’s Deals team for 16 years working across the UK, advising and assisting management teams, lenders and private equity houses. Susanne qualified with PwC as a Chartered Accountant in 2001 and is also a qualified Insolvency Practitioner, qualifying in 2008.

Her roles have been varied across many sectors and have involved advising, leading and managing companies through and ultimately out of “distressed” situations as well as those companies requiring a more strategic overview and advice to fund future growth.

Susanne had a key role in the Lehman Brothers Administration in 2008, managing the HR function for the first 9 months of the insolvency and later returned to lead the contingency planning for the outcome of the Supreme Court hearing on Client Money distribution in 2012.

Sheila Gunn

Sheila is an experienced independent non-executive director. A qualified solicitor, she left legal private practice in 2009 to pursue a management career in industry and undertake non-executive appointments. Her first assignment was with Ignis Asset Management, working on the merger of two asset management businesses within the Phoenix Group. She is Vice-Chair of the Wheatley Group and Chair of Wheatley Solutions.

Her other non-executive appointments include Phoenix Life Independent Governance Committee, Accounts Commission, Airdrie Savings Bank, YourPlace Property Management and Council of the Chartered Banker Institute.

Peter Holmes

Peter is the Independence and Ethics Partner of the Deloitte UK firm. As well as Ethics, Peter is responsible for the Audit Independence and Conflicts of Interest functions in the firm.

Peter is also Managing Director of Deloitte’s Global Risk Management for Financial Advisory Services which provides him with exposure to business cultures worldwide.

Catriona Paisey

Catriona is a Professor of Accounting at the University of Glasgow. She trained with KPMG in Aberdeen and entered academia shortly after qualifying. She has now worked in the Scottish university sector for 26 years.

She teaches financial reporting and accounting ethics, and researches aspects of the accountancy profession including accounting education, accounting careers, professional discipline, ethics and accounting history.

Lord Penrose

Lord Penrose was appointed as a Court of Session Judge in 1990 and retired in 2005. He is a graduate of Glasgow University and a Chartered Accountant.

Among many other things, Lord Penrose conducted the public inquiry into the Equitable Life Assurance Society.

* Lord Penrose profile image courtesy of Heriot-Watt University