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Financial Reporting and Ethics - The Institute of Chartered ...

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FINANCIAL REPORTING AND ETHICSdeal with deviations outside permitted tolerances.” From the definitionstated above, the role <strong>of</strong> ‘Quality Control’ is to make sure that st<strong>and</strong>ards<strong>of</strong> quality are set, so that adverse deviations may be spotlighted forcorrective measures.<strong>The</strong> ‘quality control’ requirements are clearly spelt out in the Code <strong>of</strong><strong>Ethics</strong> for pr<strong>of</strong>essional Accountants released by the InternationalFederation <strong>of</strong> Accountants (IFAC) <strong>and</strong> Rules <strong>of</strong> Pr<strong>of</strong>essional Conduct forMembers issued by <strong>The</strong> <strong>Institute</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Chartered</strong> Accountants <strong>of</strong> Nigeria.8.3.2 Peer eer ReviewA peer review programme is dedicated to enhancing the quality <strong>of</strong>auditing, accounting <strong>and</strong> attestation services performed by pr<strong>of</strong>essionalaccountants in public service who are members <strong>of</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Institute</strong> <strong>of</strong><strong>Chartered</strong> Accountants <strong>of</strong> Nigeria <strong>and</strong> by that fact, <strong>of</strong> InternationalFederation <strong>of</strong> Accountants. Peer review activities in Nigeria are h<strong>and</strong>ledby the Pr<strong>of</strong>essional Practice Monitoring Committee on behalf <strong>of</strong> the<strong>Institute</strong>.8.3.3 Peer Review ActivitiesPeer reviews turn out reports which provide insight into the individualfirm’s implementation <strong>of</strong> the stated quality st<strong>and</strong>ards set, in the course<strong>of</strong> auditing, accounting <strong>and</strong> attestation services contracted <strong>and</strong> executed.Peer review exercises increase the efficiency <strong>and</strong> effectiveness <strong>of</strong> firmsin public service <strong>and</strong> boost the level <strong>of</strong> trust in the pr<strong>of</strong>ession.8.4 CONFLICTS OF INTEREST IN CORPORATE AND PROFESSIONALENVIRONMENTSAn expert has defined a ‘threat’ as “the risk that relationships or circumstancescould compromise a member’s compliance with the rules <strong>and</strong> regulations <strong>of</strong>laid down ethical st<strong>and</strong>ards <strong>of</strong> behaviour.” Safeguards are “actions or othermeasures designed to eliminate threats or reduce them to acceptable levels.”What, then, constitutes ‘acceptable levels?’ <strong>The</strong>se can be taken as the pointswhere a reasonable <strong>and</strong> informed independent party would be disposed toconclude that, having regards to all the underlying facts <strong>and</strong> circumstances,compliance with the ethical Code <strong>of</strong> Conduct is not compromised.Section 220 <strong>of</strong> Code <strong>of</strong> <strong>Ethics</strong> for Pr<strong>of</strong>essional Accountants (2009) which <strong>The</strong><strong>Institute</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Chartered</strong> Accountants <strong>of</strong> Nigeria has adopted for its members tocomply with, has provisions for the management <strong>of</strong> conflicts <strong>of</strong> interest whichinclude the following:(a) Sub-section 220.1A pr<strong>of</strong>essional accountant who is in public practice is obliged to exercisedue diligence <strong>and</strong> care to identify the circumstances that could bring176

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