The Cayman Islands Society of Professional Accountants voted in new officers Friday during its annual general meeting. James George of BDO was appointed president, succeeding Jeffrey Short of Ernst & Young.
During the meeting at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, Mr. George and Mr. Short both emphasised the society’s ongoing efforts to gain full membership into the International Federation of Accountants, a global accountancy organisation with 2.5 million members. The Cayman group is an associate member of the federation.
“Becoming a full member of IFAC will serve to raise the profile of both CISPA and the Cayman Islands internationally. And I am confident that we can make this goal a reality,” Mr. George said.
The society is reaching the end of a long application process, and Mr. George said the goal is to submit the society’s application for membership in November for consideration by the federation in 2013.
Other officers appointed for the year include Vice President Graeme Sunley of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Treasurer Norm McGregor of Deloitte and Secretary Mike Mannisto of Ernst & Young. Members also voted in council members, including Terry Carson, Arthur Dzaghgouni, Sheenah Hislop, Baron Jacob, Ben Leung, John Lewis, Colin Nicholson, Michael Penner, Mr. Short, Peter Small, David Walker.
Outgoing president Mr. Short highlighted some of the society’s achievements during the past year, including a donation to International College Cayman Islands to help fund an academic chair for a full-time professor in accounting. Additionally, the society partnered with the Ministry of Education on a pilot project to boost numeracy training in primary schools, starting off with Red Bay Primary School and now expanded to several other primary schools.
During 2011, the society made $21,000 in charitable donations. “For example, donations were made to the Cayman Islands Cancer Society, Red Cross and West Bay Outreach Programme,” Mr. Short said.
Mr. Short presented tokens of recognition to four outgoing council members who have collectively served on the council for more than 30 years – Anthony DeAngelis of Deloitte, John Lewis of Highwater, Frazer Lindsay of PricewaterhouseCoopers and Roy McTaggart of KPMG.
The society has more than 900 members. The group licensed 66 accountants to practice here in 2011.