The Malta Institute of Accountants held its annual general meeting at its recently inaugurated new offices in the Tower Business Centre in Swatar.

The following were elected members of the council for the two years 2009/2010 and 2010/2011: Franco Azzopardi, Simon Flynn, Kevin Mahoney, Maria Micallef, William Spiteri Bailey, Nicholas Xuereb and Anthony Zarb. They join the members – Anthony Doublet, Mario Galea, Hilary Galea-Lauri, Frederick Mifsud Bonnici, Steve Paris, Bernard Scicluna and Franz Wirth – elected at the previous year’s annual general meeting who continue to serve their term into 2010/2011.

At a subsequent meeting of the council the officers of the Institute for the 2009/2010 term were elected as follows: Bernard Scicluna – President, Anthony Doublet – Vice-president, Maria Micallef – Hon. Secretary and Franco Azzopardi – Hon. Treasurer.

The management team at the institute is led by Noel Zerafa, Secretary-General, and Jonathan Dingli, Technical Director.

Ben Scicluna, the newly appointed president, was conscious of his new responsibilities and commented, “This is a most exciting time to take on the responsibilities of president of the institute, given the ongoing challenges and changes affecting the accountancy profession in general.

“Ethics and independence remain high on our agenda in order to ensure that we are not only focused on looking after the interests of our members and working in the public interest, but also that we are clearly seen to be doing so.

“There are the challenges of the immediate future that we are aware of and which will require proper attention, but I am confident that the varied skills and the ethical principles and shared values of the officer group, council membership and the institute management team will provide us with the proper qualities to ensure that the institute continues in its drive to achieve ever higher standards of quality and service in fulfilling its responsibilities”.

The Malta Institute of Accountants was founded over 65 years ago and is the representative body of one of the largest professions in Malta with over 1,500 members. It is a founder member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and a member of the Federation of European Accountants (FEE). In addition to its many functions in the public interest, it also provides a high quality route to qualification through the operation of a joint examination scheme in conjunction with the UK Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).