{
  "id": "competency:ethics--conduct-module",
  "code": "CDU-GEN-ETH-900",
  "level": "MSc",
  "name": "Ethics & Conduct Module",
  "faculty": "Faculty of General Studies",
  "lineage": [
    {
      "institution": "Conquest Designer University",
      "year": 2026,
      "note": "authored from the brief, the IESBA Code and King IV; no prior institution is claimed"
    }
  ],
  "researchProject": "Where conduct has a bright line: fees, tenure, non-audit services and board composition",
  "description": "The parts of professional ethics and governance that are bright lines rather than judgement calls: the fee-dependency thresholds of the IESBA Code, key-audit-partner rotation and cooling-off, the EU 70% cap on non-audit fees, and the King IV composition of a governing body.",
  "syllabus": [
    "The conceptual framework: identify, evaluate and address threats; where the Code sets a bright line (IESBA Part 1, Section 120)",
    "Independence and fees: fee dependency on a client, disclosure, review and withdrawal (Section 410)",
    "Long association: time-on, cooling-off by role (Section 540); non-audit-fee caps (EU 537/2014 Art. 4(2))",
    "Governance: non-executive majority, independence, executive presence on the board (King IV Principle 7)"
  ],
  "reference": {
    "Fee dependency (PIE)": "fees from the client > 15% of the firm’s total fees for two consecutive years: disclose to those charged with governance and arrange a pre-issuance review; for five consecutive years: cease to be auditor (IESBA s410)",
    "Fee dependency (non-PIE)": "> 30% for five consecutive years: disclose and arrange a review (IESBA s410)",
    "Key audit partner (PIE)": "time-on 7 years; cooling-off: engagement partner 5, EQR 3, other KAP 2 (IESBA s540)",
    "EU non-audit fee cap": "non-audit fees ≤ 70% of the average audit fee of the last three consecutive years (Art. 4(2))",
    "King IV Principle 7": "a majority of non-executive members, most of them independent; at least the CEO and the finance executive on the board"
  },
  "role": "You are an ethics partner advising a firm or a board. Name the provision, apply the bright line to the facts, and separate what the Code requires from the judgement that remains with the professional.",
  "feeUsd": 1,
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "qualification": {
    "award": "Module",
    "nqfLevel": 9,
    "qualificationType": "Master's Degree (HEQSF qualification type 9a) — a cross-faculty module of the master's offering, not a standalone award",
    "totalCredits": 60,
    "minCreditsAtExitLevel": 60,
    "iscedFields": [
      "001"
    ],
    "standards": [
      "IESBA (2023) Handbook of the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, including International Independence Standards — Section 410 (fees, revised provisions effective for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2022) and Section 540 (long association, PIE audit clients)",
      "Regulation (EU) No 537/2014 on specific requirements regarding statutory audit of public-interest entities, Art. 4(2)",
      "Institute of Directors in Southern Africa (2016) King IV Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa — Principle 7"
    ],
    "registration": "not registered"
  },
  "modules": [
    {
      "code": "CDU-GEN-ETH-900-901",
      "title": "Ethics and conduct — the executable units",
      "nqfLevel": 9,
      "credits": 60,
      "prerequisites": [],
      "coRequisites": [],
      "outcomes": [
        "apply the conduct rules of the house to a consultation, with the working shown"
      ],
      "assessment": {
        "formative": [
          "worked examples re-run against the published reference",
          "seeded practice scenarios, deterministic per (pan, unit, attempt)"
        ],
        "summative": "every unit passed once through the seeded assessment (the seeded assessment room)",
        "passMark": 50,
        "subminimum": 40,
        "moderation": "internally assessed by the unit itself — its reference implementation is the marker; the working is published so anyone can re-run the mark (D-13.1 — no model marks anything)"
      },
      "unitIds": [
        "fee_dependency",
        "partner_rotation",
        "non_audit_fee_cap",
        "board_independence"
      ],
      "notionalHours": 600
    }
  ],
  "units": [
    {
      "id": "fee_dependency",
      "name": "Fee dependency on an audit client",
      "answers": "Given the share of the firm’s fees this client has paid each year, what does the IESBA Code require?",
      "example": {
        "publicInterestEntity": true,
        "feeShares": [
          0.12,
          0.16,
          0.17
        ]
      },
      "reference": "IESBA Code Section 410 (revised fee-related provisions, effective for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2022): PIE 15% for two / five consecutive years; non-PIE 30% for five consecutive years",
      "signature": {
        "input": {
          "publicInterestEntity": {
            "type": "boolean",
            "describe": "Is the audit client a public interest entity?"
          },
          "feeShares": {
            "type": "number[]",
            "describe": "Fees from the client ÷ the firm’s total fees, one per year, oldest first"
          }
        },
        "output": {
          "threshold": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "0.15 (PIE) or 0.30 (non-PIE)"
          },
          "consecutiveYearsAbove": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Years in a row, ending with the latest, above the threshold"
          },
          "action": {
            "type": "string",
            "describe": "none, disclose-and-pre-issuance-review, cease-after-fifth-year, or disclose-and-review"
          }
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "partner_rotation",
      "name": "Key audit partner rotation and cooling-off",
      "answers": "For this role on a PIE audit, must the partner rotate off now, and for how long must they stay off?",
      "example": {
        "role": "engagement_partner",
        "yearsServed": 6
      },
      "reference": "IESBA Code Section 540 (PIE audit clients): R540.5 time-on of 7 years; cooling-off R540.11 (engagement partner 5), R540.12 (EQR 3), R540.14 (other key audit partner 2)",
      "signature": {
        "input": {
          "role": {
            "type": "string",
            "describe": "Role on the engagement",
            "oneOf": [
              "engagement_partner",
              "eqr",
              "other_kap"
            ]
          },
          "yearsServed": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Cumulative years served as a key audit partner",
            "min": 0,
            "max": 50
          }
        },
        "output": {
          "mustRotate": {
            "type": "boolean",
            "describe": "Years served ≥ 7"
          },
          "yearsRemaining": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Years left before the time-on limit"
          },
          "coolingOffYears": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Consecutive years off once rotated"
          }
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "non_audit_fee_cap",
      "name": "EU cap on non-audit fees",
      "answers": "Do this year’s non-audit fees stay within 70% of the average audit fee of the last three years?",
      "example": {
        "auditFeesLastThreeYears": [
          1200000,
          1250000,
          1300000
        ],
        "nonAuditFeesThisYear": 700000
      },
      "reference": "Regulation (EU) No 537/2014 Art. 4(2): where non-audit services are provided for three or more consecutive years, their fees are limited to 70% of the average audit fee of the last three consecutive years",
      "signature": {
        "input": {
          "auditFeesLastThreeYears": {
            "type": "number[]",
            "describe": "Statutory audit fees of the last three consecutive years"
          },
          "nonAuditFeesThisYear": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Fees for permitted non-audit services this year",
            "min": 0
          }
        },
        "output": {
          "averageAuditFee": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Mean of the three years"
          },
          "cap": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "70% of the average"
          },
          "headroom": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Cap − non-audit fees (negative: over the cap)"
          },
          "breach": {
            "type": "boolean",
            "describe": "Non-audit fees above the cap"
          }
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "board_independence",
      "name": "Governing-body composition (King IV Principle 7)",
      "answers": "Does the board have a non-executive majority, mostly independent, with at least two executives?",
      "example": {
        "totalMembers": 12,
        "nonExecutiveMembers": 9,
        "independentNonExecutives": 6
      },
      "reference": "King IV Report (2016) Principle 7, recommended practices: a majority of non-executive members, most of whom should be independent; the CEO and the executive responsible for finance as members",
      "signature": {
        "input": {
          "totalMembers": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Members of the governing body",
            "min": 1
          },
          "nonExecutiveMembers": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Non-executive members",
            "min": 0
          },
          "independentNonExecutives": {
            "type": "number",
            "describe": "Independent non-executive members",
            "min": 0
          }
        },
        "output": {
          "nonExecutiveMajority": {
            "type": "boolean",
            "describe": "Non-executives > half the board"
          },
          "independentMajorityOfNeds": {
            "type": "boolean",
            "describe": "Independents > half the non-executives"
          },
          "atLeastTwoExecutives": {
            "type": "boolean",
            "describe": "Executives ≥ 2"
          },
          "compliant": {
            "type": "boolean",
            "describe": "All three"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}