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Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 26 Sec. 82

  • Board: means the Board of Public Accountancy. See
  • Firm: means a sole proprietorship, a corporation, a partnership, association, or any other entity that practices public accountancy. See
  • Peer review: means a systemwide study, appraisal, or review of one or more aspects of the professional work of a person or firm in the practice of public accounting that performs attest services by a person or persons who are licensed under this chapter and who are not affiliated with the person or firm being reviewed. See
  • Public accountant: means a certified public accountant or a registered public accountant until July 1, 2003, after which the title of registered public accountant will still exist for those licensed as registered public accountants or having received conditional credit toward licensure as a registered public accountant by that date, but will no longer be a title granted by the Board. See
  • State: includes the states of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U. See
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.

§ 82. Confidential communications

(a) No firm or any of its employees or other public accountants engaged by the firm, shall disclose any confidential information obtained in the course of a professional engagement except with the consent of the client or former client or as disclosure may be required by law, legal process, or the standards of the profession.

(b) This section does not limit the authority of this State or of the United States to subpoena and use information in connection with any investigation, or proceedings. This section does not prohibit a public accountant whose professional competence has been challenged in a court or before an administrative agency from disclosing confidential information as a part of a defense.

(c) Nothing in this chapter prohibits a firm or any of its employees, from disclosing any data to other public accountants, peer review teams, or partnerships or corporations of public accountants engaged in conducting peer reviews under the auspices of a recognized professional association, or any of their employees, in connection with peer reviews of the accountant’s accounting and auditing practice.

(d) Nothing contained in this chapter prohibits a firm or any of its employees, from disclosing any data in confidence to any representative of a recognized professional association or to the Board in connection with a professional ethics investigation or in the course of a peer review. (Added 1981, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; amended 1991, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), § 16; 2001, No. 129 (Adj. Sess.), § 19, eff. June 13, 2002; 2007, No. 29, § 15.)