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

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PROFESSIONAL ETHICS(d)(e)ConfidentialityA pr<strong>of</strong>essional accountant should preserve the confidentiality <strong>of</strong>whatever information acquired during <strong>and</strong> after engaging in business<strong>and</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essional relationships. He should therefore not disclose suchinformation to third parties without the express permission <strong>of</strong> his clientor employer. “<strong>The</strong> exception to this rule is where there is a legal orpr<strong>of</strong>essional right or duty to disclose.” A pr<strong>of</strong>essional accountant shouldnot use the information for his personal advantage or benefit <strong>of</strong> thirdparties.Pr<strong>of</strong>essional BehaviourHe should comply with the relevant laws, regulations <strong>and</strong> the Code <strong>of</strong><strong>Ethics</strong> (IFAC, 2009). A pr<strong>of</strong>essional accountant should at all times avoidactions which are discrediting to the pr<strong>of</strong>ession <strong>and</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Institute</strong> <strong>of</strong><strong>Chartered</strong> Accountants <strong>of</strong> Nigeria.ILLUSTRAUSTRATION TION 8.1Obaluaye sighted a private car <strong>and</strong> three-men gang raping a 12 year old girlby the corner. He reasoned that he could not on his own challenge the men <strong>and</strong>save the girl from further assault. Obaluaye was hurrying to his farm but couldstill not face the gory sight. Walking a few yards away, he saw a patrol vehicle<strong>of</strong> the police. He ran across <strong>and</strong> reported the case to the police patrol team,supplying the vehicle descriptions <strong>of</strong> type <strong>and</strong> number <strong>and</strong> the location <strong>of</strong> thehorror. In a few minutes, Obaluaye disappeared <strong>and</strong> the police apprehendedthe miscreants. <strong>The</strong> girl was liberated. Discuss Obaluaye’s action from theutilitarianism <strong>and</strong> deontology points <strong>of</strong> view.SUGGESTED SOLUTION 8.1<strong>The</strong> action <strong>of</strong> Obaluaye to come to the rescue <strong>of</strong> the teenage girl being raped iscourageous, virtuous <strong>and</strong> deserving <strong>of</strong> reward. If Obaluaye saw the gory event,<strong>and</strong> failed to blow the whistle <strong>of</strong> alerting the police patrol team, the rapistswould have further harmed the victim, escaped <strong>and</strong> perhaps inflicted the sameor worse indignity on others they could lay their h<strong>and</strong>s on.Utilitarianism can best be described as a system <strong>of</strong> ethical balance or equation.<strong>The</strong> concept desires to locate balance <strong>of</strong> good consequences as against baddevelopments. Utilitarian attempts to maximise good or right over bad orwrong. <strong>The</strong> concept insists that rights <strong>and</strong> duties derive from the ultimateobjective <strong>of</strong> overall good maximisation. According to Cottell <strong>and</strong> Perlin, theethical weighting <strong>and</strong> summing <strong>of</strong> probable consequences <strong>of</strong> action is knownas “ the calculus <strong>of</strong> Utilitarian ethics”.179

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