3550

NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 136

6 DECEMBER 2007

Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand
—Notice of Decision of the Disciplinary Tribunal
(Member Guilty of Conduct Unbecoming an
Accountant and Breaching the Institute’s Rules
and/or Code of Ethics)

At a hearing of the disciplinary tribunal of the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of New Zealand held in public on
26 November 2007, at which the member was in attendance
and represented by counsel, Tracey Joy Arnerich, a
chartered accountant of Auckland admitted particulars (a),
(b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (i) and (k) and amended particulars (g)
and (h) and pleaded guilty to charges 2 and 4.

Particulars (j) and (l) and charges 1, 3 and 5 were
withdrawn.

The charges and particulars were as follows:

Charges

THAT in terms of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of
New Zealand Act 1996 and the Rules made thereunder, and
in particular Rule 21.30, the member is guilty of:
(1) (withdrawn);
(2) conduct unbecoming an accountant; and/or
(3) (withdrawn);
(4) breaching the Rules and/or the institute’s Code of
Ethics, specifically Rule 18.2 and/or 19.2(c) and/or
the fundamental principle(s) of integrity and/or
professional behaviour and/or Appendix 1 of the
Code of Ethics; and/or
(5) (withdrawn).

Particulars

IN THAT

In her role as a chartered accountant and in relation to
complaints, the member:
(a) has offered and/or continues to offer accounting
services to the public without holding a certificate of
public practice in breach of Rule 18.2; and/or
(b) is a director and shareholder of Arnerich & Associates
Limited, a company which offers accounting services to
the public, without the consent of council, in breach of
Rule 19.2(c); and/or
(c) failed to comply with an undertaking to the Institute
of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, dated
15 December 2006, to completely cease advertising
accounting services, in that she displayed a sign
advertising her accounting services outside her house on
or about 14 March 2007 and/or sent a letter printed
on Arnerich & Associates Limited letterhead on or
about 28 March 2007 and/or sent emails which inferred
a relationship between herself and Arnerich & Associates
Limited on or about 8 March 2007 and/or 22 March
2007 and/or 1 April 2007, in breach of the fundamental
principle(s) of integrity and/or professional behaviour
and/or Rule 1 and/or paragraph 30 of the Code of
Ethics; and/or
(d) failed to comply with an undertaking to the Institute
of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, dated
15 December 2006, to not actively pursue or take on
new clients until a certificate of public practice was
obtained, in that she informed the professional conduct
committee that she purchased a block of fees from
another member in February 2007 in breach of the
fundamental principle(s) of integrity and/or professional
behaviour and/or Rule 1 and/or paragraph 30 of the
Code of Ethics; and/or
(e) failed to comply with an undertaking to the Institute
of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, dated
15 December 2006, to take all steps to regulate the
practice of Arnerich & Associates Limited, as soon as
possible, in that she has not obtained her certificate of
public practice, in breach of the fundamental principle(s)
of integrity and/or professional behaviour and/or Rule 1
and/or paragraph 30 of the Code of Ethics; and/or
(f) downloaded and/or otherwise transferred files from the
client database of A & Associates to her home computer
without authority and in breach of the fundamental
principle(s) of integrity and/or professional behaviour
and/or Rule 12 of the Code of Ethics; and/or
(g) downloaded and/or otherwise transferred, precedents
and templates from the practice of A & Associates to
her home computer without authority and in breach
of the fundamental principle(s) of integrity and/or
professional behaviour and/or Rule 12 of the Code of
Ethics; and/or
(h) instructed an associate to provide to her, to download
and/or otherwise transfer, client database records and/or
precedents and templates and/or other documents, from
the practice of A & Associates in breach of the
fundamental principle(s) of integrity and/or professional
behaviour and/or Rule 12 and/or Appendix 1 paragraph
3 of the Code of Ethics; and/or
(i) admitted downloading and/or otherwise transferring
files from the client database and/or precedents and
templates and/or other documents from the practice
of A & Associates, without forethought to the
consequences and/or the sensitivity of the documents
to A & Associates, in breach of Rule 9 and/or Rule
14 of the Code of Ethics; and/or
(j) (withdrawn);
(k) misled the public by advertising and using stationery
which implied that she had the approval to offer
accounting services to the public from the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, in breach
of the fundamental principle of integrity and/or Rule
2 of the Code of Ethics; and/or
(l) (withdrawn).

Reasons

This case involves a member not holding a certificate of
public practice who was employed by a sole practitioner
who passed away after a period of illness.

The member has foolishly and impatiently proceeded to
offer accounting services to the public in the expectation
that a certificate of public practice was imminent.

The member has conspired with an associate to obtain
intellectual property from the deceased’s practice for
personal advantage. The member has admitted breaching
the terms of an undertaking given to the institute not to
actively pursue or take on new clients.

As to publication, the tribunal is not persuaded that the
member’s desire for anonymity outweighs the interests of
the public and the institute’s members.

Orders of the Tribunal

(a) Pursuant to Rule 21.31 (c) of the Rules of the Institute
of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, the
disciplinary tribunal ordered that Tracey Joy Arnerich
pay to the institute a monetary penalty of $7,000.00.
(b) Pursuant to Rule 21.31 (k) of the Rules of the Institute
of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand, the
disciplinary tribunal ordered that Tracey Joy Arnerich
be censured.