Intimidation threats occur when a member’s conduct is influenced by fear or threats (for example, when he encounters an aggressive and dominating individual at a client or at his employer).
Circumstances which may give rise to intimidation threats for members include:
- threat of dismissal or replacement of the member, or a close family member, over a disagreement about the application of an accounting principle or the way in which information is to be reported
- a dominant personality attempting to influence the member’s decisions
- being threatened with litigation
- being pressured to inappropriately reduce the amount of work performed in order to reduce fees.