The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario’ is asking the provincial government to adopt a series of benchmarks for new standards of practice for public accounting in Ontario.

A plan developed by ICAO’s president and CEO, Brian Hunt, was unveiled , tabled today in at the Toronto Board of Trade. “This is the next logical step in a process of reform to public accounting in Ontario that pre-dates Enron,” Hunt said. “It is time to maintain, and, where appropriate, increase standards of qualification to reflect international realities. Chief among them — that Ontario must keep pace with rising regulatory standards or risk losing access to U.S. and international capital markets.”

The Institute began its latest process of reforms two years ago, when it launched an independent review of its self-regulatory and disciplinary processes, which were found to be among the most stringent in the world.

These measures, in turn, build on other reforms supported by the CA profession in Canada, including:

– measures to safeguard auditor independence such as partner rotation and prohibitions on certain types of consulting work submitted for review in September 2002

– improved accounting standards such as new accounting treatment for Special Purpose Entities and Guarantees, submitted for public discussion in August 2002, as well as ongoing development of strict new accounting treatment for stock options