SIBU: The Federal Court in Kuching has dismissed an application by the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) for leave to appeal in a case involving one of its members.
The application was against the Court of Appeal’s decision on June 21 last year which allowed MIA member Wong Ching Yong to set aside the institute's 2016 decision to charge him before its disciplinary committee.
In 2018, the committee ruled that Wong had committed unprofessional conduct during a practice review, as defined in the MIA Disciplinary Regulations 2002.
The Court of Appeal had found that MIA had instead committed procedural improprieties and also breached the rules of natural justice when conducting the hearing against Wong.
In dismissing the MIA application on Tuesday (May 16), the Federal Court also ordered the applicant to pay costs of RM30,000 to Wong.
Combined with the RM15,000 cost ordered by the Court of Appeal in June 2022, the total costs payable by MIA to Wong amount to RM45,000.
Wong said later he would donate part of the balance to the Sibu Autistic Association after paying disbursements to his legal team.
A relieved Wong said his professional reputation and integrity had been vindicated.
"This is the first time in the history of MIA since it was formed in 1967 that a member litigated from the disciplinary committee level to the disciplinary appeal board, High Court, Court of Appeal and finally the Federal Court," he said.
Wong said he would write a letter to MIA enquiring about the sum of legal fees it incurred during its court battle with him.
He said it had used its members' subscription payments for this purpose and as a member, he had a right to know how much it spent on the case.
“It’s been a long legal battle with MIA's system itself for the past seven years.
"No member should be made to undergo the suffering and mental anguish I did," he said.
Wong pointed out that in the High Court decision on the matter, it was held that the goal of the practice review should be educational and not punitive for its members.
He claimed that discussions in a WhatsApp group comprising a few hundred small and medium accounting practitioners (SMPs) showed that many such firms, members of MIA, had been rated Type 4 (unsatisfactory) by the practice review committee.
He said MIA then published the evaluation in trade publications and the SMPs said this had tarnished their professional reputation and impacted their livelihood.
As such, Wong said he would encourage all affected SMPs to appeal first to the disciplinary committee and then the disciplinary appeal board.
If they could not get a resolution after exhausting all internal procedures, he said they should then file for a judicial review at the High Court and be confident enough to let their lawyers argue the matter on their behalf.
Wong urged MIA to conduct similar practice reviews on the audit files of public-interest entities (PIEs), for example public-listed companies.
He said this was because financial scandals had been linked to PIE audit files.
"MIA must not shirk its responsibility to the Audit Oversight Board (AOB) which is under the purview of the Securities Commission of Malaysia.
"MIA has the duty and responsibility to review the audit files of PIEs because the signing partners of these audit reports are also members of MIA," he said.
Wong also suggested that members of the disciplinary committee should include SMP representatives under the principle of peer review.
Wong said he was grateful to his legal team led by Albert Tang for their efforts over the past seven years in fighting and arguing the case for him on a pro bono basis.
