The government has finally unveiled its long-awaited revamp the UK’s corporate reporting and audit regime. They have promised a new regulator, greater accountability for big business, and are addressing the domination of the Big 4 accountancy firms.
The Minister for Corporate Responsibility, Lord Callanan, said: “Collapses like Carillion have made it clear that audit needs to improve, and these reforms will ensure the UK sets a global standard.”
However, the Financial Reporting Council’s Jon Thompson said: “The Government’s decision not to pursue the introduction of a version of the Sarbanes-Oxley reporting regime is, the FRC believes a missed opportunity, to improve internal controls in a proportionate, UK-specific manner. We know that well-run companies contribute to a stronger, healthier economy overall.”
The FRC will now be replaced by a new, stronger regulator – the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA) – with tougher enforcement powers and funded by a levy on industry. Work on this has already begun, with the government acting to enable the regulator to ban failing auditors from reviewing large companies’ accounts.
To curtail the unhealthy dominance of the ‘Big 4’ audit firms, FTSE350 companies will be required to conduct part of their audit with a challenger firm. The new regulator, ARGA, will also be given the power to make big audit firms keep their audit and non-audit functions operationally separate and to enforce a market cap if the state of the market doesn’t improve.
For the first time, the largest private companies – not just those listed on the stock exchange – will come under the scope of the regulator, reflecting the impact they have on the wider economy.
No extra regulations will be added to smaller businesses through the reforms: the focus is on the UK’s largest companies because so many jobs, suppliers and pensions depend on them. Unlisted companies with over 750 employees and with over £750 million annual turnover will come under scope of the regulator, a threshold set following consultation to ensure the reforms are as targeted as possible and minimise unnecessary burdens.
Directors at the biggest companies who breach their legal duties to be open with auditors, or lie about the state of their firm’s finances, will face sanctions such as fines, and the government said it will act to address ‘rewards for failure’ – where bosses pocket bonuses despite their company collapsing.
Large businesses will have to be more transparent about their profits and losses too – not dishing out dividends while on the brink of collapse – while also providing more information to investors and the public about what they have done to prevent fraud, which company metrics have been independently checked and about the risks their company faces.
