Cartwright's policy role
3 Nov 08
Bruce Cartwright takes over as convener of the ICAS Technical Policy Committee this month, after six years as convener of the Institute’s Insolvency Committee
by Richard Goslan
Cartwright, 44, an insolvency practitioner from PricewaterhouseCoopers, says he is looking forward to developing ICAS’s standing as punching above its weight on policy matters.
“ICAS has the reputation of taking a lead and there are certain issues where we should be taking a stance and developing policy, being a lightbulb to other bodies by saying ‘this is our opinion’,” he says.
“We’ve already done that in the principles over rules argument. I think ICAS has a role to explain the options, and then explain why our opinion is that this is the best option.”
Cartwright’s move comes as accounting is making front-page news, during the credit crunch and the banking crisis.
“There are some chunky issues, given the state of the economy,” he says. “The most obvious one is around financial reporting and fair value, which is a big issue for the profession because the politicians are taking views on it and not necessarily for the same reasons as accountants would, and there does seem to be a bit of shooting the messenger going on. I think ICAS is right to take a stand on this and say ‘don’t change the rules in the middle of a fire’.
“Other issues which have been boiling away are to do with the role of the non-executive director, and questions of quality. I think ICAS can play a role in developing that non-exec market and helping to get together some quality people and training them to be good non-execs.”
Cartwright qualified in 1989, and has spent much of his career at PwC, mostly in corporate recovery. He has a passion for rugby – and Edinburgh Wanderers in particular – and enjoys canoeing and hillwalking with his two children.
And if he needs someone to keep him right on technical issues, his younger brother recently left the army to train as a CA..