ETHICS
Can more be done to nail dodgy directors?
Professional bodies have failed to hold delinquent directors accountable
The Institute of Directors (IoD) isn’t exactly known for calling out delinquent professionals. So its recent decision to suspend co-branded activities with KPMG over their Gupta ties was noteworthy for its rarity — and Corruption Watch, for one, hopes more professional bodies take notice. Speaking at the launch of the first Ethical Practices survey this week, Corruption Watch chairman David Lewis said: "Professional bodies have important and far-reaching sanctions in their armouries. And this could go some way, if not all the way, towards correcting for the inaction of the law-enforcement authorities." The IoD is part of the Anti-Intimidation & Ethical Practices Forum (AEPF) which commissioned the survey, but justifies its softly-softly approach on the basis that it’s not a regulator. "We don’t confer a licence to practise to directors, so we have no regulatory authority over the practice of directorship," says IoD CEO Angela Cherrington. "The only thing we can do in terms of a gove...
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