Zaiton Mohd Hassan elected to lead ACCA
The Malaysian finance professional will serve a year as president of the global accountancy body, succeeding the UK's Melanie Proffitt.
Datuk Zaiton Mohd Hassan will serve as president of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) following her election, the organisation said on Nov 6. Her year-long term covers a body with more than 266,000 members, alongside 546,000 future members, in 179 countries.
Zaiton heads the Malaysia Professional Accountancy Centre (MyPAC) as chief executive officer and chairs digital bank GX Bank Bhd. She succeeds Melanie Proffitt from the UK, having previously held ACCA’s vice president and deputy president posts. Her election to its council came in 2016.
ACCA said her appointment coincides with changes to accountants’ responsibilities as artificial intelligence and other technologies create opportunities and challenges. It also pointed to sustainability and social value as factors reshaping measures of success.
Zaiton said ACCA’s redesigned qualification would preserve open access while preparing future accountants for technological change. As technology handles routine tasks, she said, human judgement, insight and ethics would underpin higher-value work.
The council’s leadership also includes deputy president Cristina Gutu, a KPMG director from Romania. Gary Kent, a regional government senior leader from Canada, serves as vice president.
