The head of Scotland's accountancy profession has called for a cultural change to stamp out the unethical behaviour that continues to tarnish the financial sector's reputation.

Anton Colella, chief executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Scotland made the rallying call as Icas marked the 160th anniversary of its founding.

Queen Victoria signed a Royal Charter granting 61 Edinburgh businessmen the right to create the first professional body of accountants in the world on on 23 October 1854.

Icas is staging a series of events to mark the anniversary year, with speakers including Bank of Scotland chief Antonio Horta-Osario, RBS leader Ross McEwan, and Icas members Sir David Tweedie the former chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, Sir Amyas Morse who heads the National Audit Office and Deloitte chairman David Cruickshank.

Mr Colella said: "The ethical behaviour of the many is being overshadowed by the unethical behaviour of the few. Despite the valiant efforts of the last couple of years, large swathes of the public still believe that we have only paid lip service to delivering the cultural changes which are required.

"What we need is to restore what it truly means to be a professional and put that at the heart of our businesses. Bankers, accountants, finance and business leaders must reconnect with their professions. This includes understanding and delivering on our responsibility to act in the public interest for the benefit of wider society. My fear is that a return to profit may result in us brushing some of the systemic cultural issues under the carpet."

He added: "We need to put the client and the customer before self interest. Many of the highly laudable efforts to restore trust in business after the financial crisis have not delivered the desired results. The continuing financial scandals must be a wake up call to Britain's business leaders that tough talk must now lead to tough action to restore public trust in British business."

Icas contributed strongly to the referendum debate and has continued to do so with a paper published this week on the implications of further tax devolution, prepared by independent academics and scrupulously neutral, politically.

Mr Colella enjoyed a 10 per cent pay rise to £353,000 last year as Icas membership topped 20,000 for the first time.

Its members are in 106 countries, half of them are outside Scotland, and more than 3,000 are students.