Proposed Changes to the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants Related to Provisions Addressing a Breach of a Requirement of the Code
Exposure Draft

This memorandum provides background for, and an explanation of, the proposed changes to various paragraphs in the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (the IESBA Code) that address a breach of a requirement of the Code. The IESBA believes that any breach of a provision of the IESBA Code should be treated as a matter of utmost importance. Therefore, the IESBA has proposed changes that will provide guidance to a professional accountant on the action to be taken in such situations. The IESBA approved these proposed changes in October 2011 for exposure, and request comments by January 23, 2012.

Submitted Comment Letters

1. Instituto de Censores Jurados de Cuentas de España (Spain)
January 18, 2012

2. Office of the Auditor-General of New Zealand (New Zealand)
January 19, 2012

3. AAT (United Kingdom)
January 20, 2012

4. Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (United Kingdom)
January 20, 2012

5. BDO (Belgium)
January 20, 2012

6. Federal Audit Oversight Authority (FAOA) (Switzerland)
January 20, 2012

7. Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China))
January 20, 2012

8. Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (Singapore)
January 20, 2012

9. New Zealand Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (New Zealand)
January 22, 2012

10. AICPA (United States)
January 23, 2012

11. ASSIREVI  (Italy)
January 23, 2012

12. CGA-Canada (Canada)
January 23, 2012

13. CPA Australia (Australia)
January 23, 2012

14. Canadian Public Accountability Board (Canada)
January 23, 2012

15. Consiglio Nazionale Dottori Commercialisti ed Esperti contabili (Italy)
January 23, 2012

16. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (United States)
January 23, 2012

17. Far - the Institute for the Accountancy Profession in Sweden (Sweden)
January 23, 2012

18. INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT OF RWANDA (ICPAR) (Rwanda)
January 23, 2012

19. Institut der Wirtschaftspruefer in Deutschland e.V. (IDW) (Germany)
January 23, 2012

20. Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (Australia)
January 23, 2012

21. KPMG International (United Kingdom)
January 23, 2012

22. MAZARS (France)
January 23, 2012

23. PwC (United Kingdom)
January 23, 2012

24. South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) (South Africa)
January 23, 2012

25. The Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (Japan)
January 23, 2012

26. Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (Canada)
January 24, 2012

27. ICAS (United Kingdom)
January 24, 2012

28. FEE (Belgium)
January 25, 2012

29. National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (United States)
January 26, 2012

30. the Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants (Korea, Republic of)
January 27, 2012

31. China Institute of Certified Public Accountants  (China)
January 30, 2012

32. Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board (Australia)
February 8, 2012

33. CNCC-CSOEC (France)
February 8, 2012

34. Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board (Ireland)
February 8, 2012

35. Ernst & Young Global (United Kingdom)
February 8, 2012

36. Foreningen af Statsautoriserede Revisorer (Denmark)
February 8, 2012

37. Grant Thornton International (United States)
February 8, 2012

38. Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (South Africa)
February 8, 2012

39. International Organization of Securities Commissions (United States)
February 8, 2012

40. Malaysian Institute of Accountants  (Malaysia)
February 8, 2012

41. The Association of International Accountants (United Kingdom)
February 8, 2012

42. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (United Kingdom)
February 8, 2012

43. Wirtschaftsprüferkammer  (Germany)
February 8, 2012

44. ICAP (Pakistan)
February 20, 2012

45. Denise Silva Ferreira Juvenal (Brazil)
March 4, 2012

46. IBR-IRE (Belgium)
September 5, 2012

Related Resources

• IESBA Strategy and Work Plan, 2010-2012
• Proposed Change to the Definition of "Engagement Team"
• Proposed Change to the Definition of “Those Charged with Governance”
• Proposed Changes to the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants Addressing Conflicts of Interest
• Responding to a Suspected Illegal Act