The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has elected Malaysian finance leader Datuk Zaiton Mohd Hassan as its new president, placing opportunity, inclusion and professional development at the centre of her leadership agenda as the accountancy profession undergoes significant changes driven by artificial intelligence (AI), technology and sustainability.
Datuk Zaiton will lead ACCA’s global community of more than 266,000 members and 546,000 future members across 179 countries during her year-long term.
Her appointment comes as the accountancy profession faces an evolving skills landscape, with AI and emerging technologies creating new opportunities and challenges for finance professionals. At the same time, growing emphasis on sustainability and social value is reshaping how organisations assess performance and measure success.
Her presidency also coincides with ACCA’s preparations to introduce its redesigned qualification in mid-2027. The revised programme aims to equip future finance professionals with the technical skills, ethical judgement and adaptability needed to navigate the changing demands of the profession.
First elected to ACCA’s Council in 2016, Datuk Zaiton brings experience spanning auditing, banking and corporate governance. Her career includes senior positions within the profession, including at PwC, as well as establishing and leading one of Malaysia’s national credit ratings agencies. She has also served as ACCA’s vice president and deputy president, engaging with members across Asia Pacific and other global markets.
Beyond her work with ACCA, Datuk Zaiton is CEO of the Malaysia Professional Accountancy Centre (MyPAC), a non-profit organisation that supports young people from lower-income backgrounds in pursuing careers in finance. She also chairs GX Bank, Malaysia’s first digital bank, and holds several board and advisory positions focused on governance and professional development.
Her leadership agenda is closely linked to expanding access to accountancy and using the profession as a pathway to social mobility.
Commenting on her appointment, Datuk Zaiton Mohd Hassan, president of ACCA, said: ‘It’s a tremendous honour to serve as president of ACCA, an organisation that has shaped my life and career. I came into this profession because it was open to anyone willing to work for it, whatever their background, and I’ve seen how it can lift people and whole communities. Opportunity is everything, and accountancy remains one of the most powerful routes to it.
‘Our newly redesigned ACCA Qualification retains an open access route and will help to change the face of accountancy education worldwide, preparing the next generation for a profession where technology is taking on routine work and freeing accountants for work of far greater value. That value lies in the judgment, insight and ethics that only people can bring.
‘The world needs accountants now more than ever as enablers of new technology, drivers of sustainable business and promoters of social value. Accountancy is being redefined in exciting ways, and I’m proud to be part of a profession that keeps ethics and the human element at the heart of business, creating value for people, planet and prosperity.’
Datuk Zaiton will work alongside ACCA’s other global governing Council officers, including deputy president Cristina Gutu, a director at KPMG from Romania, and vice president Gary Kent, a senior leader in regional government from Canada.
She succeeds Melanie Proffitt from the UK, former CFO of Farncombe Estate, which operates three award-winning hotels across a 400-acre estate in the Cotswolds, England. Datuk Zaiton also acknowledged Proffitt’s leadership over the past year and her efforts to champion accessible and flexible career pathways in accountancy across ACCA’s global community.
As technology reshapes finance functions and the expectations placed on accountants, ACCA’s leadership transition comes at a time when professional qualifications, ethical judgement and broader access to skills development are becoming increasingly important to the future of the profession.