Confidentiality of Client Information
All Chartered Accountants have a sworn duty to the Institute of Chartered Accountants and to the Public, to maintain the strictest confidence in respect of all information that is exposed to them in completing client engagements for clients. This is one of the hallmarks of the CA profession, which is intended to allow clients to discuss all private and confidential information with their CA’s. The intention is to afford CA’s a clear picture of the client’s circumstances and thereby allow CA’s to provide the best advice tailored to each client’s circumstances.
In addition to the requirements of the CA profession, the Canadian Federal and Provincial governments enacted stringent privacy legislation which governs the use of information related to client affairs, which has been in effect since January 1, 2004.
At Nabil Khoshkhesal, CA Inc., we have incorporated the following safeguards to ensure your privacy is protected:
- We require each staff member and independent contractor that works with our firm to sign and witness a document respecting confidentiality which prohibits them from divulging either the identity of our clients, or any details of any nature whatever regarding them and their affairs, except for the normal discourse between individuals within the firm in the course of providing our service to our clients.
- We do not disclose any information about our clients to anyone, except in prescribed form and in prescribed manner, in order to comply with income tax laws, and with the express permission of our clients to do so. In some situations, we may need to discuss private financial information with third parties, such as bankers, lawyers, or officials of the Canada Revenue Agency. In all cases, such discussions do not take place without prior consent from the client involved.
- We restrict physical access to our client files through locked areas within the building, and locked cabinetry. The premises are locked to the outside at all times, except during business hours when responsible personnel are in attendance. We maintain a fully monitored alarm system, including the employment of a trained guard service which patrols the premises at varying times during the night to prevent burglary and/or invasion, 7 days a week. All portable computers are password protected to ensure no unauthorized access, in the event of theft.
- All papers and documents which are disposed of from our offices are shredded.
- Our computers are physically locked down, and our file servers are backed up daily. Unauthorized access to our computer records is prevented through a firewall which entirely blocks access to our system from outside. Internal network access is restricted to authorized employees which possess the required passwords.
- We retain personal information for as long as required pursuant to the record-keeping requirements of the various governmental authorities, including the Canada Revenue Agency.
Should you have questions respecting the confidentiality policies of our firm, please forward them to contact@nkca.ca or feel free to discuss such issues with Nabil Khoshkhesal, CA at 604-685-1611.