Court battle - CPA Australia vs Chartered Accountants
Two of the key accounting bodies — CPA Australia and the New Zealand forerunner of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand — are fighting it out in the New Zealand High Court over allegations of professional denigration.
As the Australian financial planning industry witnesses an increasing numbers of mergers and acquisitions between accountancy firms and financial planning practices, CPA Australia has instituted legal proceedings alleging that the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants engaged in "professional denigration" against CPA Australia when it was expanding into the New Zealand market.
CPA Australia is alleging defamation and breaches of the New Zealand Fair Trading Act covering statements in flyers, advertisements, news articles and at industry events and is claiming damages against the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants to the tune of $50,000.
According to New Zealand media reports, the court has been told the NZICA effectively held a monopoly in New Zealand until 2012 when the Financial Markets Authority accredited CPA Australia for auditing work, putting it on a more equal footing with NZICA.
The CPA Australia legal counsel, Alan Galbraith QC told the court that the NZICA's campaign, named "project ambush" involved false comparisons and misrepresentations of issues such as potential earnings, numbers of accountants, global reach and educational standards, he said.
"The defendant embarked on a deliberate and aggressive public campaign of conduct designed to denigrate the plaintiff and its professional accounting designation," he said. It's not cricket."
The NZICA will being presenting its defence arguments to the court later this week.
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