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ACCA Strategic Professional · Advanced Audit and Assurance (International) · Laws and regulations

An audit junior at Hallam & Partners mentions at a social gathering that a client, Orwell Pharma, is under investigation by a regulator. Which ethical principle has the junior primarily breached?

The junior has breached the fundamental principle of confidentiality. The IESBA Code prohibits disclosing information obtained through client work to third parties without proper authority or a legal or professional right or duty to disclose, and a casual remark about a regulatory investigation at a social event has no such justification.

  1. AObjectivity
  2. BProfessional competence and due care
  3. CConfidentialityCorrect
  4. DProfessional behaviour only, with no confidentiality aspect

Explanation

The IESBA Code's fundamental principle of confidentiality prohibits disclosing information acquired through professional relationships to third parties without proper authority, unless there is a legal or professional right or duty to disclose. Casual disclosure at a social gathering falls squarely within this. Objectivity and competence concern bias and skills, not disclosure.

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