ACCA Strategic Professional · Advanced Audit and Assurance (International) · Advertising, tendering, and obtaining professional work and fees
A partner at Marlow Audit Group is asked to approve a leaflet including the statement 'Our firm is endorsed by the national finance ministry.' The firm has provided one training session for ministry staff, and no endorsement exists. What is the key ethical problem?
The key problem is that the statement is false and misleading, because no endorsement exists. Claiming one breaches the fundamental principles of integrity and professional behaviour, which require truthful marketing. Having delivered a single training session does not justify implying official endorsement, so the leaflet must be corrected.
- AThe statement may be acceptable because the firm did work for the ministry
- BThe statement is a false or misleading claim, breaching integrity and professional behaviour requirementsCorrect
- CThe only problem is that confidentiality of the ministry may be breached
- DThe statement is a self-review threat to independence
Explanation
No endorsement exists, so the statement is untrue and misleads recipients. This breaches the fundamental principles of integrity and professional behaviour, which prohibit false or misleading marketing. Confidentiality and self-review are not the main issue, and having done some training does not justify implying endorsement.
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