SECTION 10:15-39-1. Application

(a)   To the extent not contradicted by rule herein, a registrant shall conform in fact and in appearance to the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct.

(b)   To protect the public interest, the Rules of Professional Conduct are based on the premise that the public and the business community rely on sound financial reporting and on professional competence. This premise is inherent in the authorized use of the titles certified public accountant and public accountant, which imposes on persons registered with the Board certain obligations to the public and to others. These obligations which the Rules of Professional Conduct are intended to enforce, include: the obligation to maintain independence and objectivity of thought and action, to strive continuously to improve professional skills, to observe, where applicable, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), governmental auditing standards, standards as set by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and generally accepted auditing standards, to promote sound and informative financial reporting, to hold the affairs of clients or employers in confidence, to uphold the standards of the public accounting profession, and to maintain high standards of personal conduct in all matters affecting fitness to practice public accounting.

(c)   Acceptance by a registrant of a certificate or license involves a duty to abide by the Rules of Professional Conduct.

(d)   The Rules of Professional Conduct are intended to have application to all kinds of professional services performed in the practice of accounting, including, but not limited to, assurance, attest, auditing, accounting, review and compilation services, tax services, management advisory services and personal financial and investment planning, and intended to apply as well to all certificate and license holders, whether or not engaged in the practice of public accounting, except where the wording of one of the Rules of Professional Conduct clearly indicates that the applicability is more limited.

(e)   A registrant who is engaged in the practice of public accounting outside the United States is not subject to discipline by the Board for departing, with respect to such foreign practice, from any of the Rules of Professional Conduct, so long as the conduct is in accordance with the Rules of Professional Conduct applicable to the practice of public accounting in the country in which the registrant is practicing. If the name of a registrant is associated with financial statements in such manner as to imply that the registrant is acting as an independent CPA or PA under circumstances which would entitle the reader to assume that United States practices are followed, the registrant will be expected to comply with auditing standards and accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, and other professional standards applicable to the services provided.

(f)   In interpreting and enforcing these rules, the Board may give consideration, but not necessarily dispositive weight, to relevant interpretations, rulings and opinions issued by the boards of other jurisdictions, appropriately authorized ethics committees of professional organizations and other federal and state agencies.

[Source: Added at 10 Ok Reg 2543, eff 7-1-93; Amended at 16 Ok Reg 2084, eff 7-1-99; Amended at 21 Ok Reg 1981, eff 7-1-04; Amended at 23 Ok Reg 2123, eff 7-1-06; Amended at 24 Ok Reg 1729, eff 7-1-07; Amended at 25 Ok Reg 1513, eff 7-1-08; Amended at 26 Ok Reg 1373, eff 7-1-09; Amended at 27 Ok Reg 1690, eff 7-1-10]