Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

15 July 2005

CIMA’s Professional Standards Committee has committed itself to the new Code of Ethics just published by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), which it expects CIMA Council to adopt in October 2005, some eight months before the deadline for all IFAC member bodies.  The IFAC Code comes after several years’ intensive and ground-breaking work.

Charles Tilley, Chief Executive, CIMA and Board Member, IFAC, said “CIMA congratulates the IFAC Ethics Committee on issuing this revised Code; it is a further demonstration of the international profession’s commitment to act in the best interest of the public.”

He goes on, “the new Code is ground-breaking in that it establishes principles for ethical behaviour and rejects the simple application of rules; rule-based Codes can be circumvented, but those based on principles can be successfully applied in almost all circumstances.”

Under the framework, all professional accountants will be required to identify threats to these fundamental principles and, if there are threats, apply safeguards to ensure that the principles are not compromised.

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For further information, please contact:

Steven Hilton
Press Officer, CIMA
020 8849 2427
steven.hilton@cimaglobal.com

Notes to editors

1. CIMA (the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) is a leading professional body that offers an internationally recognised qualification in management accountancy, focussing on accounting in business.  It is the fastest growing UK based membership body, in terms of members, in both the UK and worldwide and is the voice of over 85,000 students and 65,000 members in 156 countries.  CIMA is responsible for the education and training of management accountants who work in industry, commerce and not-for-profit and has more members in the public sector than any other UK based body.  CIMA prides itself on the commercial relevance of its syllabus, which is in tune with the activities of high performance organisations, and evolves continually reflecting the latest developments in global business.  It is committed to upholding the highest ethical and professional standards of members and students, and to maintaining public confidence in management accountancy.  For more information about CIMA, please visit www.cimaglobal.com