CIMA Updates Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants

• CIMA committed to upholding highest ethical and professional standards
• Updated Code of Ethics applies to all CIMA members and registered students

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) have updated the ‘Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants’ for all CIMA members and registered students throughout the world. The revision was designed to ensure that the CIMA Code of Ethics remains relevant and reflects the changing dynamics and pressures of the profession. The updated CIMA Code of Ethics entered into force on 1 January 2015, and aims to strengthen the good standing and reputation of the profession by maintaining the highest standards of conduct and integrity.

CIMA members and registered students are required to comply with the CIMA Code of Ethics and to adopt the fundamental principles of the Code to their working lives. They must also refrain from any conduct which might discredit the profession, and must have regard to these guidelines irrespective of their field of activity, of their contract of employment or of any other professional memberships they may hold.  Any CIMA member who faces a disciplinary procedure would do so under the CIMA Code of Ethics.

Geetu Ahuja, Head of GCC, CIMA, said: “In a fast-changing global environment, the work of professional accountants is impacted by a broad range of trends. CIMA has updated its Code of Ethics to ensure it remains fit for purpose and reflects these changing dynamics. CIMA is committed to upholding the highest ethical and professional standards, and maintaining public confidence in management accounting. CIMA members and registered students in the GCC are required to comply with the CIMA Code of Ethics and to adopt the fundamental principles to their working lives.”

The CIMA Code of Ethics

• The 2015 CIMA Code of Ethics sets out the five fundamental principles that CIMA members and students globally are bound to uphold, and provides a conceptual framework for ethical decision making
• It is based on the principles of the IFAC Code of Ethics
• Professional accountants are responsible not just for satisfying the needs of an individual client or employer, but for acting in the public interest. This responsibility is at the heart of the CIMA Code of Ethics
• CIMA members and registered students throughout the world have a duty to observe the highest standards of conduct and integrity, and to uphold the good standing and reputation of the profession

The Code continues to be presented in three parts. All three parts of the CIMA Code of Ethics are based on the fundamental principles of professional ethics for professional accountants, namely – Integrity, Objectivity, Professional Competence and Due Care, Confidentiality, and Professional Behaviour – and adopt the conceptual framework approach to help members and students comply with the ethical requirements of the Code and to uphold their responsibility to act in the public interest.
The 2015 Code of Ethics and guidance to the changes can be found at: www.cimaglobal.com/ethics