The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is preparing to clamp down on accountants’ distribution of client information that’s not already publicly available, even if shared on a no-name basis for such noble causes as research and benchmarking. At the same time, however, the AICPA doesn’t want to stand in the way of academic research and professional benchmarking, said Ellen Goria, AICPA senior manager.
The AICPA’s Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC) has proposed revisions to the code of professional conduct, specifically Ethics Ruling No. 2 of ET Section 391, Ethics Rulings on Responsibilities to Clients, to say any sharing of non-public client information without the client’s specific consent is a violation. The PEEC appointed a task force to study the issue in light of concern that there is growing interest in such data from third parties or even accountants themselves benchmarking for the sake of other clients.
