The 2025 version of the Code includes the following update to subsection 115:

The update was introduced to strengthen members’ understanding of their professional conduct obligations and addresses concerns raised in complaints about poor conduct among members in their professional lives.

This guidance aims to clarify ICAEW’s expectations of a member’s conduct, both in their professional and personal lives and the types of behaviour that would fall within the scope of paragraph 115.1 A2. It also provides practical support by outlining the circumstances in which disciplinary action may be taken in our case studies and where you can access further resources, support and guidance.

All references to ‘member’ and ‘Chartered Accountant’ in this guidance should be read to also include provisional members, foundation qualification holders, CFAB holders, and any other individuals who are subject to the ICAEW Code and other ICAEW Bye-laws and regulations.

2025 changes

The chartered accountancy profession was founded with a duty to act in the public interest and there is an expectation for members of the profession to exhibit higher standards of behaviour than ordinary members of the public. As such, ICAEW Chartered Accountants must adhere to the requirements and guidance in the ICAEW Code and failing to do so may bring discredit to the profession.

This means that chartered accountants must uphold the ethical values enshrined in the five fundamental principles of integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality, and professional behaviour. It is crucial that chartered accountants act in a way that maintains public trust and confidence, and do not damage their own reputation or that of the profession. Subsection 115 of the Code outlines the requirements for professional behaviour under its fifth fundamental principle. The wording in the 2025 Code is as follows:

When is conduct relevant to ICAEW?

As members of the chartered accountancy profession, an individual’s conduct is always of potential relevance to ICAEW. As the Code sets out, a member must comply with relevant laws and regulations and avoid any conduct that they know or should know might discredit the profession. A member’s conduct could discredit the profession even it takes place in a member’s personal life, albeit that it would take more seriously poor conduct for personal life actions to discredit the profession.

Unprofessional behaviour is treated with the utmost seriousness, as it affects the individual's reputation, the integrity of the profession, and public confidence in ICAEW and its members. Additionally, it can erode trust in professional standards and damage client relationships.

Such conduct can encompass a wide range of actions and scenarios in the professional life of a chartered accountant. For example, bullying and offensive behaviour, physical or verbal abuse by a member towards a colleague, client or others, plagiarism or inappropriate sexual touching of a colleague or client in any geographic location or context.

In considering such cases we will always evaluate the available evidence to determine whether reports can be substantiated, and whether disciplinary action is appropriate. Evidence could include for example; written communications, recordings, medical evidence, complaint records, screen shots of social media posts or witness statements to corroborate reports.

Key principles under 115.1 A2

Threshold for seriousness of conduct: reasonable-and-informed third-party test

The test for assessing the seriousness of any poor conduct is that which a reasonable-and-informed third party (RITP) would conclude brings discredit to the profession.

The Code explains that a “reasonable-and-informed third party” should possess the knowledge and experience to evaluate the appropriateness of a professional accountant’s conclusions objectively and impartially. The RITP would also take into account the relevant context of a situation.

An explicit requirement of the fundamental principle of professional behaviour is to comply with relevant laws and regulations. Conduct that falls significantly below this standard in a member’s professional life, is conduct that the RITP may conclude brings discredit to the member and/or the profession. 

Under the RITP test, the stronger the link between a member’s conduct and their professional role, the greater the likelihood that the behaviour could bring discredit to the profession. This is due to the connection between the conduct and the member’s professional responsibilities.

Conduct likely to be of disciplinary interest

Under Disciplinary Bye-law 4.1, members and firms may be subject to disciplinary action if they engage in conduct that could bring discredit to themselves, ICAEW, or the accountancy profession, or if they fall significantly short of the standards reasonably expected of them.

Each case is considered on its own merits, with careful evaluation of the facts and circumstances on a case-by-case basis. For disciplinary action to proceed, the conduct must be sufficiently serious to fall within ICAEW’s regulatory remit and taking action must serve the public interest. Several key factors are considered to determine both the seriousness of the behaviour and whether the matter can be progressed based on the available evidence. These factors include:

• seriousness of the misconduct, for example, the impact or harm caused;
• potential to damage the profession’s reputation;
• whether the conduct was discreditable, shameful or deplorable
• evidential support for disciplinary action; and 
• criminal conduct whether in professional or personal life and/or any indictable criminal convictions.

Examples of conduct unlikely to be of disciplinary interest

• A personal dispute between family members.
• An argument involving the use of offensive language that only takes place between friends in a private environment.
• Social media posts on a personal social media account where there is no identifiable link to the profession that express political opinions or views that are not offensive.
• Private employment matters or civil disputes.

When an allegation has been investigated, and it is determined to constitute a potential breach it will initially be referred to the Conduct Committee and potentially the Tribunals Committee. If the Committee upholds the allegation, it will consider the appropriate sanction in accordance with the key principles in ICAEW guidance on sanctions and fixed penalty process. This includes consideration of any aggravating or mitigating factors present in the case.

Professional vs personal life

To determine whether a member’s conduct is relevant to ICAEW as a regulator, it is necessary to assess whether the behaviour occurred in their professional or personal life. This distinction is important because the standards of expected conduct differ between these two contexts. Poor conduct within a professional setting is far more likely to bring discredit to the profession compared to similar behaviour occurring in a member’s personal life.  This means that higher standards of behaviour are expected of members in their professional life. It should be noted however, that criminal convictions bring discredit regardless of whether they take place in a member’s professional or personal life.

Paragraph 115.1 A2 applies to conduct that takes place in a member’s ‘professional life’. This term is used to encompass a broad range of activities that link conduct in the life of a member to their profession as an accountant.

The CCAB Ethics Group offers useful guidance to help members understand the boundaries between personal and professional life. These boundaries can generally be understood as follows:

Professional life

Conduct will be treated as taking place in a member’s professional life broadly if it occurs in contexts linked to a member’s work or business practices, such as:

• in a work environment or during work time where the conduct relates to a colleague, client or third party;
• at social event or in a private setting with colleagues or clients even at locations away from the office or client premises;
• situations where the member identifies themselves as an accountant or is publicly representing the profession or their employer;
• attending external conferences; or
• social media activity where the member's professional status is visible or identifiable.

However, in all cases when considering the boundaries between professional and private life, we will consider the specific context in which the conduct takes place. For example, the nature of the environment or event, the location, the reason any colleagues were present and the relationships between the parties.

Personal Life

It is also possible that a member’s conduct in their personal life could bring discredit on the profession if it is seriously poor and therefore incompatible with the higher standards expected of a member of the chartered accountancy profession. The behaviour is usually relevant because of a specific connection to the chartered accountant's professional life.

However, for a member’s conduct that takes place entirely in their personal life to bring discredit, it must be so serious that it is capable of damaging the reputation of the profession and/or diminishing public trust and confidence in the profession. In particular, a criminal conviction of a serious offence in an accountant’s personal life will bring discredit, particularly as media reports may well make reference to the defendant’s profession.

When assessing this, appropriate consideration will also be given to wider factors such as the member’s right to a private life and freedom of expression, as well as the seriousness of the misconduct and any public protection or reputational risks.

Conduct is treated as being in a member’s personal life if it is generally unrelated to a member’s professional role and obligations. Factors that could be relevant in assessing whether a member’s conduct occurs in their personal life includes where it involves:

• personal relationships and interactions with family and friends;
• activities during personal time with no professional context;
• social media posts where the member’s professional identity is not apparent in their posts or their profile or other social media presence;
• private family holidays;
• private social events without professional connections; or
• time in evenings and at weekends where the member is not acting in a professional capacity and is not interacting with individuals with a link to the member’s professional life.

Examples of behaviours

To help members understand the conduct that ICAEW expects in their professional lives, paragraph 115.1 A2 sets out both positive expectations and non-exhaustive examples of unprofessional behaviour. A professional accountant, in their professional life: ‘... treats others fairly and with respect and dignity and for example does not bully, harass, victimise, or unfairly discriminate against others.’

While some terms may have legal definitions, they can also be understood more broadly in their ordinary or natural sense. For the purpose of this guidance, they are defined as follows:

Fairly: Demonstrates fairness, objectivity and impartiality in all professional dealings and in a way that maintains an ethical culture and public confidence in the profession. This includes handling complaints fairly.

Respect and dignity: This is about valuing others and their contributions and perspectives to ensure they receive equitable treatment. It does not mean you cannot hold opposing personal opinions on issues; neither does it mean you cannot speak up, or challenge someone more senior, if you have concerns about their conduct. 

Bully: While there is no legal definition of bullying in the UK, it is commonly understood as behaviour that intimidates or undermines someone. For example, bullying is associated with actions such as:

• spreading malicious rumours;
• unfair treatment;
• regularly undermining someone or picking on them; and
• unfairly or unreasonably denying training or promotion opportunities.

Harass: Harassment can be defined as any unwanted conduct that has the purpose or effect of violating a person's dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, humiliating, or offensive environment within professional and workplace settings. In the UK, harassment is unlawful under Section 26 of the Equality Act 2010. While legal definitions and protections vary across jurisdictions, ICAEW expects its members to uphold the highest standards of professional behaviour and respect in all interactions, ensuring that workplaces remain free from harassment. Members working internationally should be aware of the laws in their own jurisdiction while adhering to ICAEW’s ethical framework.

Victimise: According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, victimisation is a type of discrimination. It occurs when someone is treated less favourably because they have or are thought to be involved in a ‘protected act,’ such as raising a discrimination or harassment complaint at work. ICAEW may also consider this term in a broader sense, for example in terms of suffering a detriment following a protected disclosure (whistleblowing), depending on the geographical jurisdiction a complaint arises in.

Unfairly discriminate against others: discrimination is when someone is treated 'less favourably' than someone else because of their 'protected characteristics,' for example the person’s age, sex or disability. However, there are circumstances, where you can positively or fairly discriminate to help people with a protected characteristic, for example because they are under-represented in a type of work. This is known in the UK as ‘positive action’. ICAEW is only concerned with unfair direct or indirect discrimination.

These negative behaviours are viewed seriously because they have the potential to undermine ethical cultures and the fundamental principles that underpin the profession. They are also particularly serious in a professional context because they can erode trust between colleagues and with clients and ultimately harm public trust in the profession.

Illegal Conduct

The ICAEW Code requires all members to comply with relevant laws and regulations. Engaging in criminal activity may lead to disciplinary action, with the severity of the offence playing a key role particularly in the case of indictable offences. Serious offences will amount to misconduct even if they do not touch on or relate to the profession.

Disciplinary Bye-law 4.1 states that a member will be liable to disciplinary action, regardless of whether they were a member at the time of the event(s) giving rise to that liability at point (e) if ‘convicted of an indictable offence by a court of competent jurisdiction (or an equivalent offence outside England and Wales)’. Non-indictable offences may also breach other Disciplinary Bye-laws, particularly where the conduct discredits the individual, ICAEW, or the profession, or falls significantly short of professional standards.

When assessing whether a criminal conviction warrants a disciplinary sanction, the Conduct Department, along with the relevant ICAEW disciplinary committee or tribunal, will consider the specific facts of the case, including any aggravating or mitigating factors.

• Read ICAEW’s guidance on sanctions.

Duty to report

ICAEW members are expected to uphold the highest standards of practice and conduct. All members, firms, affiliates, and 'relevant persons' have a duty to report any event suggesting that they or another member, firm, affiliate, or 'relevant person' may be subject to disciplinary action.

The Duty to Report Misconduct is outlined in Disciplinary Bye-law 6.1. It is important to report workplace misconduct because of the risk that it can lead to wider unethical behaviour that could have an impact on consumers, clients and the overall public interest. This includes for example, abusive or intimidating behaviour directed at employees, managers, clients or other third parties and inappropriate use of social media.

By reporting and addressing such behaviour it can help to:

• protect individuals from further harm or mistreatment;
• uphold professional standards, integrity and ethical values;
• encourage and promote an ethical and transparent culture; and
• reinforce trust in the profession.

• Read ICAEW’s guidance on the duty to report misconduct.

Case studies

ICAEW has created a series of case studies to illustrate the types of behaviour that would and would not be of disciplinary interest to ICAEW:

• A working trip abroad
• Inappropriate social media use
• Rude emails sent to colleagues
• Inappropriate behaviour on holiday
• Team building activity