(Chicago)—September 16, 2015—A growing Coalition of more than 50 professional bodies from around the world, launched at the United Nations in October 2014, has completed the first stage of its work. The International Ethics Standards Coalition (IESC) recently announced the selection of a committee of independent global experts to draft the first International Ethics Standards for real estate professionals. The intention is to reassert the role of ethics in property markets across the world. John J. Leary, CRE, president, Leary Counseling and Valuation, Inc., Hamden, Conn. is the chair of the Standards Setting Committee.
Three other CRE members have been named to serve on this Committee – William P.J. McCarthy, CRE, president, W.P.J. McCarthy and Company Ltd., Burnaby, B.C., Canada; Robert H. McKennon, CRE, Appraisal-Associates, Inc., Wilmington, Del. and Steven R. Norris, CRE, principal, Norris Realty Advisors, Pasadena, Calif.
With a trillion dollars of commercial real estate capital flowing around the world, it is increasingly important that professionals manage that huge capital flow responsibly. The creation of one set of consistent global ethics principles will directly underpin this.
The 52 real estate professional bodies which make up the International Ethics Standards Coalition represent many thousands of practitioners working in real estate sectors across the world. The Coalition is united by the belief that business ethics plays a valuable and prominent role in the global property profession.
Included in the group which will be drafting the International Ethics Standards are prominent real estate representatives from Russia, China, France, the USA, Germany, Brazil, Japan, Malaysia, Canada and the UK. They have been asked by the Coalition, to review the many existing ethical codes and identify common themes, seeking to bring greater consistency and clarity to the practice of real estate worldwide.
The Coalition Trustees invited nominations for the independent Standards Setting Committee from professionals with a background in real estate and business ethics who have experience in working with different sectors and markets.
Peter Bolton King, Chair of the International Ethics Standards Coalition, said: “Although many firms and professional bodies might have ethics codes and different ways to implement those, there is not one universal ethics standard to which all professional real estate and trade organizations subscribe.
For more information about the International Ethics Standard, visit www.ies-coalition.org.
The Counselors of Real Estate®, established in 1953, is an international group of high profile professionals including members of prominent real estate, financial, legal and accounting firms as well as leaders of government and academia who provide expert, objective advice on complex real property situations and land-related matters. Membership is selective, extended by invitation only. The organization’s CRE® (Counselor of Real Estate) credential is granted to all members in recognition of superior problem solving ability in various areas of real estate counseling. Only 1,100 people in the world hold the CRE credential. For more information, contact The Counselors of Real Estate, 430 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611; 312/329.8427; https://cre.org