Michigan Laws 339.732 – Confidentiality; disclosure of information
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Terms Used In Michigan Laws 339.732
- Certified public accountant: means an individual who is either of the following:
(i) Qualified by education, examination, and experience to engage or offer to engage in the practice of public accounting as evidenced by the issuance of a certificate as a certified public accountant under section 725 or 726 and a license or registration issued under section 727. See Michigan Laws 339.720Client: means an individual or entity that engages a licensee or licensee's employer to receive any service in the practice of public accounting. See Michigan Laws 339.720 Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other. Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. Source: OCC person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, as well as to individuals. See Michigan Laws 8.3l Report: when used with reference to an attest or compilation service, means an opinion, report, or other form of language that states or implies assurance as to the reliability of attested information or compiled financial statements and that also includes, or is accompanied by, any statement or implication that the individual or firm issuing it has special knowledge or competence in accounting or auditing. See Michigan Laws 339.720 state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories belonging to the United States; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o
(1) Except by written permission of the client or the heir, successor, or personal representative of the client to whom the information pertains, a licensee, or a person employed by a licensee, shall not disclose or divulge and shall not be required to disclose or divulge information relative to and in connection with an examination or audit of, or report on, books, records, or accounts that the licensee or a person employed by the licensee was employed to make. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the information derived from or as the result of professional service rendered by a certified public accountant is confidential and privileged.
(2) Subsection (1) does not prohibit any of the following:
(a) A certified public accountant, whose professional competence has been challenged in a court of law or before an administrative agency, from disclosing information otherwise confidential and privileged as part of a defense in the court action or administrative hearing.
(b) The disclosure of information required to be disclosed in the course of practice monitoring programs and ethical investigations conducted by a licensed certified public accountant. In such cases, the information disclosed to another licensed certified public accountant in the course of practice monitoring programs and ethical investigations is confidential and privileged to the same degree and in the same manner as provided for in subsection (1).
(c) A licensee, or a person employed by a licensee, from disclosing information otherwise privileged and confidential to appropriate law enforcement or governmental agencies when the licensee, or person employed by the licensee, has knowledge that forms a reasonable basis to believe that a client has committed a violation of federal or state law or a local governmental ordinance.
(3) Documents or records in the possession of the department pertaining to a review, an investigation, or disciplinary actions under this article are exempt from disclosure under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246, unless the records or documents are used for either or both of the following purposes:
(a) As evidence in a contested case held by the department.
(b) As a basis for formal action by the department and until the action is resolved by a final order issued by the board.