CONFIDENTIALITY AND ETHICAL DISCLOSURE

Course Overview

This course examines the ethical duty of confidentiality in professional accounting and tax practice and how it interacts with legal obligations, public interest considerations, and ethical disclosure requirements. Participants explore real-world scenarios involving non-compliance, misconduct, and whistleblowing, developing the professional judgment needed to balance confidentiality with integrity and regulatory expectations.

Course objectives

• Explain the ethical and professional foundations of confidentiality in accounting and tax practice
• Identify situations where confidentiality conflicts with legal, regulatory, or ethical obligations
• Apply structured professional judgment to confidentiality and disclosure dilemmas
• Understand ethical disclosure and whistleblowing obligations in professional contexts
• Implement governance, documentation, and control frameworks to manage confidentiality risks

Learning outcomes

• Assess whether information obtained in professional practice is confidential and how it should be protected
• Distinguish between legitimate confidentiality and improper secrecy
• Evaluate when ethical disclosure or whistleblowing may be appropriate
• Respond appropriately to non-compliance and practitioner misconduct scenarios
• Apply practical frameworks to manage confidentiality and disclosure in daily practice