Legal and Accounting

Legal

• Solicitors accept advantages in exchange for divulging clients’ confidential information.
• Solicitors  accept advantages from clients for assisting in the preparation of false conveyancing documents to deceive banks in loan applications.
• Legal clerks of law firms, in the absence of the firms’ permissions, accept advantages from clients when conducting the firms’ affairs.
• Legal clerks of law firms misappropriate clients’ money.  [General remarks for Group G’s consideration: In differentiate the solicitors working in law firms vs in-house solicitors, we propose to use a more generic term rather “in public practice” and “in business” as these terms appear more commonly used for accounting professionals.]

Accounting

• External auditors accept advantages from clients in exchange for turning a blind eye to irregularities or exceptions identified during the audit.
• External auditors accept advantages from clients to unjustifiably reduce audit sample sizes.
• External auditors accept advantages from clients to freeze, reduce or manipulate audit fee.
• Accounting professionals accept advantages to manipulate financial statements or provide misleading financial information to stakeholders.

Legal

• In-house lawyers accept advantages from contractors in exchange for turning a blind eye to, or withholding adverse legal opinions on, contract terms that present clear red flags.
• In-house lawyers accept advantages from competitor companies in exchange for divulging corporates’ confidential information.

Accounting

• Internal auditors accept advantages from colleagues in exchange for turning a blind eye to non-compliance.
• Financial accountants accept advantages from colleagues for processing claims with missing, insufficient or fraudulent documentation.
• Management accountants accept advantages from external parties in exchange for disclosing price-sensitive confidential information of their listed company.

Legal & Accounting

• Legal or accounting professionals working in accounting/law firms accept lavish or frequent meals, entertainment or other hospitality from clients that may impair their independence or objectivity.
• In-house legal or accounting professionals engage in outside work without proper approval of their employers.
• In-house legal or accounting professionals procure services or products from companies owned by their family members or close associates without proper disclosure or approval.
• In-house legal or accounting professionals disclose price-sensitive information of their publicly listed employers to friends or relatives prior to public announcement.
• In-house legal or accounting professionals approve or influence company investments in which they have personal financial interests.