INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ETHICS AND AUDIT

Serving the public interest internationally through independent, high-quality ethics, audit, and assurance standards that inspire confidence in corporate information and the world’s economies

TERMS & CONDITIONS

Last Updated: March 2023

The International Foundation for Ethics and Audit (“the Foundation”) is a US entity that houses two standard-setting boards, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board and the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants. The Foundation provides information on www.ethicsandaudit.org and www.iaasb.org and www.ethicsboard.org (collectively, the “Website”) pursuant to the following terms and conditions (the “Terms”). Your use of the Website is conditioned on your acceptance of the Terms. By accessing and/or using the Website, you indicate your knowledge of and agreement with the Terms. The Foundation may modify the Terms from time to time without notice except on the Website, so you should review the Terms if you continue using the Website.

1. Intellectual Property Rights

1.1. The information and publications available on or through the website belong to the Foundation, IFAC, or its licensors, and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws (whether registered or not and wherever in the world those rights may exist).

1.2. For the avoidance of doubt, no content available on or through this website is licensed to you hereunder.

1.2A In these terms of use, “information” refers to the content of the website that is not a publication, as defined. A “publication” is the Handbook of International Quality Control, Auditing, Review, Other Assurance, and Related Services Pronouncements of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board and the Handbook of the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants and includes discussion papers, exposure drafts, and final standards to be incorporated into the Handbooks.

1.2B Unless expressly permitted by the Foundation in writing, you may not:

  • Modify, copy, reproduce, publish, distribute, transmit, display, sell, or otherwise use in any way for public or commercial purposes the information available on or through the Website;
  • Create any derivative works from the information available on or through the website;
  • Link or frame to any information contained on the website or any portion thereof; or
  • Use the Foundation’s trade name, trademarks, service marks, collective membership marks, logos, domain names, or other distinctive brand features in any manner. 

1.2C Unless expressly permitted by IFAC in writing (see IFAC permissions policy), you may not:

  • Modify, copy, reproduce, publish, distribute, transmit, display, sell, or otherwise use in any way for public or commercial purposes the publications available on or through the Website;
  • Create any derivative works from the publications available on or through the website;
  • Link or frame to any publication contained on the website or any portion thereof; or
  • Use of IFAC’s, IAASB’s, or IESBA’s trade name, trademarks, service marks, collective membership marks, logos, domain names, or other distinctive brand features in any manner. These include the ‘International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’, ‘International Standards on Auditing’, ‘International Standards on Assurance Engagements’, ‘International Standards on Review Engagements’, ‘International Standards on Related Services’, ‘International Standards on Quality Management, ‘International Auditing Practice Notes’, ‘IAASB’, ‘ISA’, ‘ISAE’, ‘ISRE’, ‘ISRS’, ‘ISQM’, ‘IAPN’, the ‘International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’, International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards), ‘IESBA’, and the IAASB and IESBA logos, which are trademarks of IFAC, or registered trademarks and service marks of IFAC in the US and other countries

1.3. Third party trademarks, trade names, product names, and logos may be the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

1.4. You may not remove or alter any trademark, trade names, product names, logo, copyright or other proprietary notices, legends, symbols, or labels on this Website.

1.5. Violation of the provisions of these terms of use, including without limitation violation of the provisions of this paragraph 1 may, in IFAC’s sole discretion, result in restriction of your access to the Website.

2. General Conditions

2.1. You may not use the Website for any illegal or unauthorized purpose. You agree to comply with all laws, rules and regulations (for example, federal, state, local and provincial) applicable to your use of the Website and your Submission (defined below), including but not limited to, copyright laws.

2.2. You are responsible for any activity that occurs through your account and you agree you will not sell, transfer, license, or assign your account, followers, or username. With the exception of people or businesses that are expressly authorized to create accounts on behalf of their employers or clients, the Foundation, IAASB and IESBA prohibits the creation of and you agree that you will not create an account for anyone other than yourself. You also represent that all information you provide or provided to the Foundation, IAASB or IESBA upon registration and at all other times will be true, accurate, current and complete and you agree to update your information as necessary to maintain its truth and accuracy.

2.3. Access to and use of password protected and/or secure areas of the Website is restricted to authorized users only. Unauthorized access to such areas is prohibited.

2.4. You agree not to use the Website for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms. You may not use the Website in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Website or the Foundation’s network, the Foundation’s connection to the Website, or interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the Website. You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Website, accounts, computer systems or networks connected to the Website, through any means.

2.5. The Website is for your personal and non-commercial use.

2.6. The Website may contain links to third party websites that are not under the control of the Foundation (“Linked Sites”). The Foundation makes no warranties or representations about the Linked Sites and the Foundation assumes no responsibility or liability for any material that may be accessed on other websites reached through this Website, nor does the Foundation make any representation regarding the quality of any product or service contained at any such site. The Foundation provides links to you only as a convenience, not to imply endorsement of the Linked Sites. You are responsible for viewing and abiding by the privacy statements and terms of use posted at the Linked Sites. The Foundation also has no responsibility or liability for any material on other websites that may contain links to the Website.

2.7. You understand and acknowledge that the Website may contain various content created by people or entities other than the Foundation, IAASB or IESBA (“Content”). The Foundation has no obligation to monitor this Content, and reserves the right to review and remove such Content in its sole discretion.

2.8. Unless otherwise specified, the Foundation does not claim ownership of any materials you provide to the Foundation, IAASB or IESBA or post, upload, input or submit to this Website (“Submission”). By posting, uploading, inputting, providing or submitting ("Posting") your Submission, you are granting the Foundation a non-exclusive worldwide license in perpetuity to use your Submission in connection with the operation of its business, including, without limitation, the license rights to: edit, translate and reformat your Submission, and to cache, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform and reproduce your Submission as part of the Website or in any document or publication created by the Foundation, IAASB or IESBA, in all media, including, but not limited to mobile devices, as well as unknown new media hereinafter developed; to publish your name in connection with your Submission; and the right to sublicense such rights. The Foundation cannot and will have no obligation to pay any compensation with respect to such use of your Submission, and is under no obligation to post or use any Submission you may provide. The Foundation, IAASB and IESBA may remove any Submission at any time in its sole discretion. You may request the Foundation, IAASB or IESBA remove your Submission for any reason on reasonable written notice to the Foundation, IAASB or IESBA, on receipt of which the Foundation will take commercially reasonable steps to comply.

2.9. The term “Submission” does not include any comments (“Comments”) made in response to a Request for Comments by the Foundation, IAASB or IESBA. In submitting a Comment, you understand and agree that you are granting the Foundation a non-exclusive worldwide license in perpetuity to use all or a portion of the Comment in connection with the operation of its business, including, without limitation, the license rights to: edit, translate and reformat your Comment, and to cache, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform and reproduce the Comment as part of the Website on in any document or publication created by the Foundation, IAASB or IESBA, in all media, including, but not limited to mobile devices, as well as unknown new media hereinafter developed; to publish your name in connection with the Comment; and the right to sublicense any such rights.

2.10. In connection with Posting any Submissions, you agree that you will not: (i) submit material that is copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless you are the owner of such rights or have permission from their rightful owner to post the material and to grant the Foundation all of the license rights granted herein; (ii) submit material that is unlawful, obscene, defamatory, libelous, threatening, pornographic, harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, violate any law, or is otherwise inappropriate, as may be determined by the Foundation, or contrary to the Foundation’s policies and procedures. 

3. Transmission of Personal Data

You acknowledge and agree that by using the Website and/or providing the Foundation with any personal information through the Website, you consent to the terms of the Foundation’s Privacy Policy.

4. Security

4.1. Data transmitted to and from the Website is encrypted for the user’s protection. However, the security of information transmitted through the Internet can never be guaranteed. The Foundation is not responsible for any interception or interruption of any communications through the Internet or for changes to or losses of data.

4.2. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of any password, user ID, or other form of authentication involved in obtaining access to password protected or secure areas of the Foundation, IAASB and IESBA Websites. You agree to notify the Foundation, IAASB or IESBA immediately about unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security.

4.3. You agree that you will be solely responsible to the Foundation for all activities that occur under your account and that the Foundation will not be liable for any loss that you may incur as a result of someone else using your password or account, either with or without your knowledge. You understand and agree that you may be held liable for any losses incurred by the Foundation or another party due to someone else using your account or password.

4.4. Please review the Security Statement in the Foundation’s Privacy Policy for additional information. 

5. Interruptions or Discontinuation of Access to Website

5.1. The Foundation reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify, suspend, discontinue or permanently remove all of the Website, or portions thereof, with or without notice to you. Further, you agree that the Foundation shall not be liable to you or any third party for such interruptions or discontinuations of access.

5.2. You agree that upon termination of your access to the Website under any provision of these Terms, the Foundation may immediately deactivate or delete your account and/or bar any further access to such files or the Website. Further, you agree that the Foundation shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of your access to the Website.

6. Privacy Statement

Protecting the privacy of our users is important to the Foundation. The Foundation’s Privacy Policy describes the information collected from you and how it is uses and protects such information.

7. Disclaimer

7.1. The Website is provided as is, and the Foundation makes no express or implied representations or warranties regarding the Website. Without limiting the foregoing, the Foundation does not warrant that the Website will be error-free or will meet any particular criteria of performance or quality. The Foundation expressly disclaims all implied warranties, including, without limitation, warranties of merchantability, title, and fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, compatibility, security and accuracy.

7.2. Your use of the Website is at your own risk and you assume full responsibility and risk of loss resulting from the use of thereof. The Foundation will not be liable for any special, indirect, incidental, consequential or punitive damages or any other damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, statute, tort (including, without limitation, negligence) or otherwise, relating to the use of the website.

7.3. The Foundation uses reasonable efforts to include accurate and up-to-date information documents and publications on the Website. The Foundation does not, however, make any warranties or representations as to the accuracy or completeness of such materials.

7.4. The Foundation assumes no liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in the content of the Website. Your use of the Website is at your own risk.

7.5. No oral or written information or advice given by the Foundation, its agents or employees shall create a warranty or in any way increase the scope of any warranty provided herein.

8. Limitation of Liability

In addition to any other limitation of liability set forth in this Terms of Use, you expressly agree that in no event shall the Foundation, its officers, directors, employees, contractors, affiliates, or agents be liable to you or any third party for:

8.1. Any direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special, consequential damages or any damages incurred by you, however caused and under any theory of liability. This shall include, but is not limited to lost profits (directly or indirectly), loss of data, loss of goodwill or business reputation, or other intangible loss;

8.2. Any loss or damage that may be incurred by you arising out of or in any way connected with the use or performance of the Website; the delay or inability to use the Website; the provision of or failure to provide services; for any information, documents and publications obtained through the Website; or otherwise arising out of the use of the Website;

8.3. Any loss or damage arising out of unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions of data and for any material or data sent or received or not sent or received; and

8.4. Any loss or damage arising out of any inaccuracies in the translation of information, documents and publications or for any misunderstandings resulting from differences in language usage, dialect or particular regional usage in such translations.

8.5. The limitations on the Foundation’s liability in paragraph 9.1 apply even if the Foundation has been advised of or it should have been aware of the possibility that such losses or damages could arise.

9. Choice of Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, United States. You hereby irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of State or Federal courts in the County of New York, New York, United States in all disputes arising out of or relating to the use of the Website and/or these Terms. You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and the Foundation as a result of these Terms or your use of the Website. The Foundation’s performance under these Terms is subject to existing laws and legal process, and nothing contained in these Terms is in derogation of the Foundation’s right to comply with governmental, court and law enforcement requests or requirements relating to your use of the Website or information provided to or gathered by the Foundation with respect to such use. If any part of these Terms is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations set forth herein, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remainder of these Terms shall continue in effect. Unless otherwise specified herein, these Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and the Foundation with respect to your use of the Website and it supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral or written, between you and IFAC with respect to your use of the Website. 

10. Copyright

It is the Foundation’s policy to respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement in compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) and other applicable laws. If you are a copyright owner or an agent thereof, and you believe that any content or link on the Website infringes upon your copyrights, you may submit a DMCA notice to the Foundation’s DMCA Copyright Agent:

International Foundation for Ethics and Audit
529 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Attn: DMCA Copyright Agent
E-Mail: IFEA@ethicsandaudit.org

You understand and acknowledge that if you fail to comply with all of the requirements of the DMCA in submitting your DMCA notice, your failure may result in a delay of the processing of your notice.