Professional Services Sector – Lessons from critical High Court ruling:
Read my featured article highlighting the latest case law regarding Accountants’ duties, client confidentiality & conflicts of interest, of wider interest to Professional Service Firms:
This was a salutary and expensive lesson (US$11.6M) on when instructions should be declined or consent sought from clients where conflicts of interest might arise. The piece summarises the key issues for accountants’ firms from December 2016’s 987 paragraph High Court judgement, where the court was highly critical of failures by the Defendant top tier accountant firm in relation to client confidentiality.
Case:
Harlequin Property (SVG) Ltd and another v Wilkins Kennedy (a firm) [2016] 3188 EWHC (TCC)
Link to judgement: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/TCC/2016/3188.html
The article covers:
- What is acceptable practice
- The Defendant firm’s practical failings
- What constitutes an adequate information barrier
- Recommendations
jpsykes23@outlook.com
Please note this information is provided by way of example and may not be complete and is certainly not intended to constitute legal advice. You should take bespoke advice for your circumstances.
j paul sykes 
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Nathan Combes
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for and on behalf of Lupton Fawcett LLP
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