Every year, TSM - Toulouse School of Management organises a special event in partnership with the Ordre des Experts-Comptables of Occitanie. Several speakers gather on our campus to discuss current issues and developments in the fields of accounting, auditing, and control.
An event centred on the role of chartered accountants in the fight against fraud and money laundering in the accounting sector
The 31st annual meeting will take place on Thursday, 27 November 2025, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m, in the Cujas amphitheatre, directly on TSM’s Anciennes Facultés campus.
In an ever-changing economic and regulatory environment, the fight against financial fraud and money laundering has become a major challenge for businesses and the accounting professionals who support them.
Financial fraud refers to any illegal action intended to deceive, conceal or manipulate financial information in order to obtain an undue advantage or to hide losses. Money laundering, meanwhile, consists of reintroducing funds of illicit origin into the legal economy to disguise their source.
These two phenomena, often closely intertwined, go far beyond technical or legal issues: they raise questions of trust, ethics and accountability. The increasing number of cases, coupled with the growing sophistication of fraudulent practices, now calls into question the effectiveness of control systems, reporting tools, and coordination between stakeholders—both nationally and internationally.
From the high-profile Kerviel affair (2008), which exposed weaknesses in Société Générale’s internal controls that allowed the concealment of massive losses, to the CumCum case (2023–2025), involving several French banks in schemes designed to circumvent dividend taxation, and the Wirecard scandal (2020), which revealed large-scale falsification of the German fintech’s accounts—these events all underline the crucial role of chartered accountants in combating fraud and money laundering.
In this context, several key questions arise:
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What roles and responsibilities do chartered accountants have in addressing the risks of fraud and money laundering?
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How do detection mechanisms operate, and which stakeholders are involved in prevention?
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How might new technologies—from data analytics to artificial intelligence—and the introduction of e-invoicing transform the practices of chartered accountants and other finance professionals more broadly?
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Finally, what are the challenges in terms of training and attractiveness within the accounting profession, and how can firms strengthen the skills of their teams?
These are the questions this 31st Annual Conference seeks to explore. Academics and practitioners will share their insights on the fight against financial fraud and money laundering, and on the transformations these efforts bring about for the accounting profession.
A Day of Exchange with Professionals from the Accounting Sector
The day will continue with a series of talks led by experts, offering different perspectives on the topic. It will conclude with a round table discussion entitled “Training, Detecting and Acting Against Fraud and Money Laundering: A Collective Mission for Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors”, chaired by Frédéric Laffont, representative of the Ordre des Experts-Comptables d’Occitanie, with the participation of:
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Bruno Le Besnerais, Chartered Accountant and Statutory Auditor, representative of the Compagnie Régionale des Commissaires aux Comptes de Toulouse
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Carol-Anne Loher Delalune, Senior Lecturer at IAE Angers
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Christophe Barthélémy, Major of the French National Gendarmerie – Economic and Financial Crime Division, Toulouse Investigation Unit
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Mathieu Lespinasse, Chartered Accountant and Court-appointed Expert at the Toulouse Court of Appeal – Caletré Firm
TSM is honoured to welcome the Ordre des Experts-Comptables d’Occitanie for this opportunity to exchange views on the challenges and responsibilities of chartered accountants in the fight against fraud and money laundering.
