Ethical Regulations in the Accounting Profession – an European and International Approach
Author:
Univ. Prof. Eugeniu ŢURLEA, Ph.D., Univ. Prof. Aurelia ŞTEFĂNESCU, PhD, Mihaela MOCANU, PhD Student
JEL:
M42, L84
DOI:
Keywords:
accounting profession, ethics, regulation, regulation authority, reputation
Abstract:
The topic regarding ethics in the accounting profession exerts an increasing fascination, both for practitioners, and for the regulation authorities and the academic environment, mostly because of the events from the beginning of the XXIst century (such as the well-known Enron, WorldCom and Parmalat scandals), because of the current globalization context, of the material prosperity considered to be a priority by economic entities, as well as because of the danger of demonetization of the professions, in general. Both the international literature, as well as the national literature in the field paid increased attention to this topic. However, the Romanian literature mainly debates aspects related to the ethical regulations in force at international level. The novelty of the present article consists in its double purpose: first, that of presenting by comparison both the ethical regulations in force at international level, and the ones issued in the European Union and the ones in vigor in the United States of America and second, that of debating the necessity and adequacy of the ethical regulations in the accounting profession. The research approach is analytical-argumentative in nature and is well substantiated, especially that the ethical regulations to be observed by the accounting professionals, as well as the courses on ethical subjects to be attended by them are increasingly numerous, complex and demanding. The main conclusions of the authors consist in the fact that the strongest argument in favor of ethical regulations is the accounting profession’s need for legitimizing its status (at a macro level) and the professional accountant’s desire to maintain reputation (at a micro-level). \r\n\r\n