Membership of the Institute evidences not merely academic qualifications but also practical experience, character, integrity and responsibility. Only on fulfilment of all these criteria will a governance professional or accounting officer be admitted as a Member of the Institute and become a Chartered Secretary.

In 2002 the King II Report on Corporate Governance introduced the primary tenets of corporate governance in South Africa. In September 2009 King III was launched, encompassing changes which anticipate the new South African Companies Act, 2008, (expected to become effective in the second half of 2010) and changes in international governance best practice.  Notable in new legislation is an even greater emphasis of the role of appropriately qualified governance professionals and accounting officers such as Chartered Secretaries.