An internal auditor found that his organization did not make a disclosure that is required by law. However, the auditor decided not to raise an audit finding. Which of the following Code of Ethics…

Question

Options

• AObjectivity.
• BIntegrity.
• CProficiency.
• DConfidentiality.

• A
  3% (1)
• B
  12% (4)
• C
  3% (1)
• D
  82% (28)

Explanation

Important note: The answer key provided marks D as correct, but this appears to be an error. The correct answer is almost certainly B. Integrity.

Why B (Integrity) is correct: The IIA Code of Ethics Integrity rules explicitly state that internal auditors "shall observe the law and make disclosures expected by the law and the profession" and "shall not knowingly be a party to any illegal activity." By suppressing a finding about a legally required disclosure, the auditor violated both of these Integrity obligations - they enabled illegal non-compliance and were dishonest in their professional duties.

Why the other options are wrong:

• A (Objectivity) involves bias or conflicts of interest - nothing in the scenario suggests the auditor had a personal stake skewing their judgment.
• C (Proficiency) would apply if the auditor lacked the skill to identify the issue - here they found it and chose to conceal it, which is an ethical failure, not a competence gap.
• D (Confidentiality) governs protecting sensitive information from unauthorized disclosure - the opposite scenario. No confidentiality issue is raised here.

Memory tip: Integrity = honesty + lawfulness. Whenever an auditor knows something is wrong or illegal and stays silent, that's an Integrity violation. Think: "A person of integrity doesn't look the other way."

If this question appeared on a practice exam, I'd recommend checking the source - D as the answer is inconsistent with the IIA Code of Ethics framework.

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