Confidentiality and the Maltese accounting profession : an evaluation

Abstract

Confidentiality concerns the treatment of information that an individual has disclosed in a relationship of trust and with the expectation that it will not be divulged to others in ways that are inconsistent with the understanding of the original disclosure without permission. The aim of this dissertation is to evaluate the legislative and the practical views of confidentiality amongst the accountancy profession from the point of view of the warrant holders in public practice. An overview of the Maltese Regulatory Framework will be given in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the Maltese legislations related to the topic of this dissertation. The research broadly entails a series of interviews with partners and senior managers of local audit firms ranging from small to Big Four Firms. The research findings suggest that integrity and professional competence are identified as the most important principles in the accountancy profession whereas objectivity and due care are deemed to be the least important principles for a professional's career to be successful. Confidentiality is related to integrity because professionals cannot uphold integrity without keeping all the information they know about their clients confidential. Finally, although many legislations treat confidentiality as a main issue, the majority of the audit firms in Malta believe that since they cultivate and maintain a good culture of ethical behaviour within them, there is effectively no need for all these laws to comply with.