BEIRUT-------- October 22, 2015---------HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) stressed on the importance of adopting a charter of honor and a code of conduct by politicians, intellectuals, businessmen and professionals and legalizing such instruments to ensure their enforcement and the criminalization of whoever violates their provisions in order to safeguard the unity of our society and our economic and social security.

This idea was proposed during the annual symposium of the Arab Organization for Anti-Corruption under the theme "Conflict of Interest in the State and Society", which was held in Beirut under the auspices of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees HE Dr. Bahij Tabbara.

During the session dedicated to the topic “Conflict of Interests in the State and Society" headed by member of the Board of Trustees Mr. Ahmad Obeidat, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh indicated that the adoption of the Charter and the Code of Conduct will help fight corruption, which seeks to destroy the infrastructure of the economies of Arab states and to disrupt the security of our citizens and their livelihoods.

In his presentation titled "Conflict of Interests and Monitors and Chartered Auditors Work” he underlined the importance of the role played by the private sector in the economies of states and the impact of its success onto the welfare of citizens, adding that the accounting profession and professional accountant’s main concern is to present the results of the private sector’s work with full transparency.

He pointed out that those applying the accounting standards are faced with corruption and conflict of interest challenges, and he added that the conflict of interest becomes clear when an accounting and audit firm attempts to issue an opinion or a report contrary to the truth or favors a certain party in return of high fees or to guarantee their assignment as the audit firm of the company for several years to come. Therefore, and in face of such challenges, we are required to move ahead and to find a way to help more than 2.5 million professional accountants in the world fulfill their tasks in the best way possible.

He stressed the importance of independence in the accounting and auditing professions being the basis of any professional ethical system.

Among the several steps he proposed to combat corruption, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh mentioned the  need for

legislators  and decision-makers to issue laws and legislation that daily fight corruption, to evaluate internal and external risks on  regular basis, and to conduct  a history / background check of concerned people, n addition to the need for management to confirm commitment to fighting corruption, and the development of policies and controls commensurate with the risks, and finally to conduct constant monitoring, review and follow-up.