This subfield deals with ethics in financial reporting, accounting practices, and investment management, including issues like insider trading, fraud, and conflict of interest.
Ethical theories: Overview of the different ethical theories that exist and how they apply to accounting and finance, including deontology, utilitarianism, and virtue ethics.
Professional codes of conduct: Discussion of the ethical standards that professional accounting and finance organizations have established, such as the International Federation of Accountants and Chartered Financial Analysts Institute.
Corporate governance: Examining the structures, practices, and procedures put in place to ensure accountability, transparency, fairness, and ethical conduct in organizations.
Whistleblowing: Understanding the ethical responsibilities of employees to report misconduct or illegal activities, the mechanisms for protecting whistleblowers and reporting mechanisms.
Conflict of interest: Discussing the factors that lead to conflict of interest, the ethical implications, and the strategies to manage intended or perceived conflicts of interest.
Fair value accounting: Understanding the theories, assumptions, and methods used to determine the fair value of financial instruments, asset classes and how it relates to ethics in accounting and finance.
Ethical decision-making: Overview of the process of ethical decision-making and how it applies to the accounting and finance profession.
Sustainability and social responsibility: Understanding the ethical requirements for incorporating social and environmental considerations into business operations and ethical challenges presented by sustainability.
Tax evasion vs. tax avoidance: Discussion of the differences between illegal tax evasion and legal tax avoidance strategies and ethical implications of using tax-avoidance strategies.
Audit independence: Understanding the importance of auditor independence, the factors that can compromise auditor independence, and the ethical implications of compromised auditor independence.
Insider trading: Discussion of the legal and ethical boundaries related to insider trading, and its consequences and implications.
Personal and professional integrity: Analyzing the importance of personal and professional integrity in accounting and finance, the elements of integrity, and the challenges that professionals face while demonstrating it.
Bribery and corruption: Understanding the ethics of bribery and corruption, its impact on the accounting and finance industry and the policies that mitigate the impact.
Data protection and privacy: Understanding the privacy and confidentiality considerations in data-based accounting and finance and the ethical requirements to ensure such data privacy is preserved.
Virtue Ethics: Focuses on the character of the individual and their moral behavior towards others. It is based on the concept of virtues such as honesty, transparency, and fairness.
Deontological Ethics: This approach follows strict moral rules and principles that should always be followed by accountants and finance professionals.
Teleological Ethics: This concept of ethics is also known as consequentialism, and it focuses on the outcomes of an action rather than the action itself. In this type of ethics, the outcome is more important than the means used to achieve it.
Utilitarian Ethics: This theory proposes that the ethical decision should be made based on the greatest good that can be achieved for the greatest number of people.
Relativism Ethics: This ethical approach believes that there is no universal standard of right or wrong. What is considered ethical in one culture or society may not be the same in another society.
Ethical Egoism: This approach is the opposite of Utilitarianism since it suggests that the individual should act in their own best interest, even if it is at the expense of others.
Contractual Ethics: This theory asserts that all ethical decisions must be based on an agreement between individuals.
Justice Ethics: This ethical concept advocates that the ethical decision should be made solely based on what is fair and just for all parties involved.
Environmental Ethics: This approach believes in the welfare of natural resources, ecosystems, and the environment as a whole. It demands that ethical decisions should always keep in mind the impact on the environment.
Feminist Ethics: This ethical approach promotes equal treatment and equity for all genders and focuses on overcoming biases and discrimination against women.