Chairman, fellow professional accountants, my lords, ladies and gentlemen, good evening. It is a great pleasure to be here with you at this celebration. I would like to thank Richard Dyson, CCAB Chairman and ICAEW President, very much indeed for his introduction.
Tonight, as part of World Accountancy Week, we are joining professional accountants worldwide in celebrating the 30th anniversary of the founding of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Throughout this week, IFAC member bodies on every continent around the world are holding similar events to recognize 30 years of progress for our profession and the contributions of professional accountants to worldwide economic growth and development.
Our accountancy profession here in the United Kingdom and Ireland has very good reason to celebrate this milestone. All six CCAB members - the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy - are founding members of IFAC.