## Fundamental Principles: Integrity & Confidentiality

### Principle 3 — Integrity

A professional accountant must be:

Straightforward and honest in all professional and business relationships
Committed to fair dealing and truthfulness
Must not knowingly be associated with reports, returns, communications or other information where the accountant believes the information:
Contains a materially false or misleading statement
Contains statements or information furnished recklessly
Omits or obscures information required to be included, making it misleading

> Integrity goes beyond mere honesty — it also implies fair dealing and truthfulness in all dealings.

### Principle 4 — Confidentiality

A professional accountant must:

Respect the confidentiality of information acquired as a result of professional and business relationships
Not disclose such confidential information to third parties without proper and specific authority, unless there is a legal or professional right or duty to disclose
Not use confidential information acquired during professional relationships for the personal advantage of themselves or third parties
Maintain confidentiality even after the end of the professional relationship

#### When disclosure of confidential information is permitted:

Situation	Condition
Authorised disclosure	Client/employer has given permission
Legal requirement	Disclosure required by law/court
Professional duty	Public interest justifies disclosure

Worked example

### Example 1

Integrity example: An auditor discovers that a management-prepared report contains a misleading revenue figure. Even though management pressures the auditor to sign off, the integrity principle requires the auditor to refuse association with the misleading statement.

### Example 2

Confidentiality example: An auditor who has completed the audit of Company X is approached by a competitor of Company X asking about X's financial strategies. The confidentiality principle prohibits disclosure even though the audit engagement is over.

### Example 3

Permitted disclosure example: During an audit, the auditor discovers evidence of money laundering. Here, the legal and public interest duty overrides confidentiality — the auditor must report to the appropriate authority.

⚠️ Common exam mistakes

Confusing integrity with independence — integrity is about honesty and fair dealing, independence is about objectivity and absence of bias.
Thinking confidentiality ends when the engagement ends — it continues indefinitely after the professional relationship.
Assuming confidentiality always overrides other duties — legal requirements and public interest can require disclosure.

Reference:

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Fundamental Principles of Ethics — Integrity and Confidentiality

Worked example

⚠️ Common exam mistakes