Page:The Ethics of the Professions and of Business, with a supplement - Modern China and Her Present Day Problems.djvu/216

200 Sec. 4. The Board of Trustees (sitting as a trial board) may in the exercise of its discretion recall, rescind, or modify any resolution for expulsion or suspension at a meeting similarly called and convened by a like majority vote as required in Section 3 of this article, provided that not less than three- fourths of the members constituting such board shall have been of the board that issued the decree then being reconsidered

Sec. 5. Written notice of any resolu- tion for expulsion or suspension shall forthwith be sent to the member affected thereby and to the secretary or secretaries of the state or district society or societies with which such member is affiliated or in which state he has his domicile or place of business.

These articles continued until the year 1916 substantially without change with the addition only of Section 6, which reads :

Sec. 6. No member shall take part in any effort to secure the enactment, alteration or amendment of any state or federal law affecting the profession without giving immediate notice thereof to the secretary of this association, who in turn shall at once advise the secre- tary of the state or district society concerned.

In 1916 the American Associa- tion of Public Accountants was re- organized under the present title of the American Institute of Accountants. The Institute while not incorporating a code of ethics or rules of conduct in its constitution and by-laws, neverthe- less formally adopted a set of rules of professional conduct, which in its present form is as follows:

(1) A firm or partnership, all the individual members of which are members of the Institute (or in part members and in part associates, provided all the members of the firm are either members or associates), may describe itself as "Members of the American Institute of Accountants," but a firm or partnership, all the in- dividual members of which are not members of the Institute (or in part members and in part associates), or an individual practising under a style denoting a partnership when in fact there be no partner or partners, or a corporation or an individual or in- dividuals practising under a style denoting a corporate organization, shall not use the designation "Mem- bers (or Associates) of the American Institute of Accountants."

(2) The preparation and certifica- tion of exhibits, statements, schedules or other forms of accountancy work, containing an essential misstatement of fact or omission therefrom of such a fact as would amount to an essential misstatement or a failure to put prospective investors on notice in respect of an essential or material fact not specifically shown in the balance- sheet itself, shall be, ipso facto, cause for expulsion or for such other discipline as the Council may impose upon proper presentation of proof that such misstatement was either wilful or the result of such gross negligence as to be inexcusable.

(3) No member shall allow any person to practise in his name as a public accountant who is not a member of the Institute or in partnership with him or in his employ on a salary.

(4) No member shall directly or indirectly allow or agree to allow a commission, brokerage or other partici- pation by the laity in the fees or profits of his professional work; nor shall he accept directly or indirectly from the laity any commission, brokerage or other participation for professional or commercial business turned over to