(a) Licensees shall not divulge, nor shall they in any manner be required to divulge, any information that is communicated to them or obtained by them by the reason of the confidential nature of their employment. The information shall be deemed confidential; provided, however, that nothing in this subsection (a) shall be construed as prohibiting the disclosure of information required to be disclosed by the standards of the public accounting profession in reporting on the examination of financial statements or as prohibiting disclosures in investigations or proceedings under this chapter, in ethical investigations conducted by private professional organizations or in the course of peer reviews, or to other persons active in the organization performing services for that client on a need to know basis or to persons in the entity who need this information for the sole purpose of assuring quality control. Disclosure of confidential information pursuant to this subsection (a) shall not constitute a waiver of the confidential nature of the information for any other purpose.
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 62-1-116
Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
Client: means a person or entity that agrees to receive any professional service from a licensee. See Tennessee Code 62-1-103
Professional: means arising out of or related to the specialized knowledge or skills associated with CPAs. See Tennessee Code 62-1-103
State: means any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands and Guam, except that "this state" means the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 62-1-103
United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Information derived as a result of such professional employment is deemed to be confidential, except that nothing in this chapter shall be construed as modifying, changing or affecting the criminal or bankruptcy laws of this state or of the United States.
