Calif. Board Issues Reg to Amend Outsourcing Disclosure

Sacramento, Calif. (Aug. 11, 2004) -- As planned, the California Board of Accountancy has issued a regulation notice informing licensees of amendments to its Code of Regulations related to outsourcing disclosures.

Currently, Regulation 54.1 prohibits the disclosure of confidential client information without the client’s permission and provides narrow exceptions to this prohibition. The proposal would revise Section 54.1 to require that the client’s permission be in writing and to provide that, in the event confidential client information may be disclosed to persons or entities outside of the United States, the licensee inform the client in writing and obtain the client’s written permission.

The board said that the objective of the proposal is to update Section 54.1 "to help ensure that the clients of licensees have the information they need to make informed choices regarding the disclosure of their financial information."

The Regulation Notice is available online at www.dca.ca.gov/cba/notices/reg04-1.pdf. Comments must be received by the CBA by Sept. 9. A hearing will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Sacramento on Sept. 10.

As we reported in April, the CBA took up the issue last fall to address concerns about the disclosure to clients of outsourcing. At that time, a spokesperson for the board said that the changes are expected to take effect some time in 2005.

-- WebCPA staff

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