CIMA is committed to fulfilling its obligation as a Chartered Institute to protect the public interest. As part of this commitment, members and students are required to uphold the highest standards of ethical behaviour. This protects the integrity of the CIMA qualification, increases public trust in it and so supports CIMA’s purpose - to enhance the employability of CIMA members.

To achieve this, CIMA promotes ethics and provides guidance to members facing ethical conflicts.

CIMA’s Code of Ethics

The standards of professional ethics required by CIMA are set out in our Code of Ethics, which applies to all CIMA members and students.

The Code requires members and students to identify and assess threats to compliance with a framework of fundamental principles, and then to apply appropriate safeguards to remove or reduce them.

View CIMA’s Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants

Download CIMA’s Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (PDF 261KB)

About the Code

The fundamental principles of the CIMA Code of Ethics are:

• integrity
• objectivity
• professional competence and due care
• confidentiality
• professional behaviour.

These are defined and explained in Part A of the Code, where there is also guidance on how to resolve an ethical conflict.

CIMA’s Code draws on and is aligned with international standards including, in particular, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) Code of Ethics, which was itself developed with input from CIMA and the global accountancy profession.

Not upholding the framework of principles in the Code of Ethics could result in disciplinary action if a complaint is made against a member or student.

Resolve an issue with a CIMA member.

Further information

In the UK the Auditing Practices Board (APB) has issued specific ethical standards for auditors and ethical standards for reporting accountants which members should be aware of. These can be downloaded from the APB website.

The CIMA Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants replaced the previous CIMA Ethical Guidelines (PDF 112KB) on 1 January 2006.

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