Regulator flags BDO’s ‘unacceptable’ audit issues for fifth year in a row Accountancy Accountancy giant BDO has been flagged for an “unacceptable” standard of audit quality by the watchdog for a fifth year in a row. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said in its yearly audit quality report that BDO’s overall audit quality fell below expected standards and “has received unsatisfactory results from regulatory inspections” consistently for five [...]
Former Virgin Money chief set to lead Financial Reporting Council Accountancy The former chief executive of Virgin Money has been selected as the government’s preferred candidate to lead the UK’s accountancy regulator following the expected departure of Sir Jan du Plessis. Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia was named by Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle to replace du Plessis for a four-year term overseeing the Financial Reporting Council [...]
Battersea Power Station misreporting claims scrutinised by accounting watchdog Accountancy The City’s accounting watchdog is scrutinising claims of financial misreporting at Battersea Power Station after the former chief executive alleged he was dismissed from his role for blowing the whistle on inflated property valuations, Morning Wire understands. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is reportedly looking at claims made by the former boss of the iconic [...]
Forvis Mazars and top partner hit with £600,000 fine for audit failings July 2, 2026 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has hit accountancy giant Forvis Mazars and a top partner at the firm, David Allen, with a combined £610,537 for audit failings relating to a retail firm listed on the London Stock Exchange’s main market. The FRC said it has issued the fines following an investigation into both Forvis Mazars [...]
Watchdog opens probe into auditors of collapsed lender MFS June 11, 2026 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has launched an investigation into the conduct of three accountancy firms and individual accountants involved in auditing the accounts of collapsed mortgage lender, Market Financial Solutions. The accountancy watchdog said it has opened four probes into Magus Chartered Accountants, Berkeley Finch Limited, and Silver Levene (UK), and into a number [...]
P&O Ferries to be probed over possible audit failings June 10, 2026 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has opened a probe into the conduct of an accountant at P&O Ferries over the accuracy of information they provided to auditors. The FRC said it has opened the investigation to assess the financial information provided to the auditor of P&O Ferries Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries between December 2020 [...]
Directors of collapsed Carillion banned by accounting watchdog May 12, 2026 A pair of Carillion finance directors in post shortly before its collapse have been fined and banned by the accounting industry watchdog, bringing the curtain down on eight years of regulatory probes into one of the most notorious corporate failures in British history. Richard Adam – who served as the now-extinct contracting company’s finance director [...]
‘Stewardship shouldn’t feel like box-ticking’ – FRC chief June 3, 2025 FRC chief executive exclusively shared with Morning Wire his main focus of overhauling its key City code was "reducing the reporting burden"
FRC: We will take an axe to City stewardship code, says boss June 1, 2025 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) plans to take the axe to a key City code that governs how shareholders should hold companies to account. The UK Stewardship Code was created following the 2008 financial crisis to address fears that shareholders had failed to adequately police risk-taking. Signatories are required to publicly report on their stewardship [...]
Big Four vs Watchdog: Giants rack up over £154m in fines April 16, 2025 The accountancy regulator has handed over £154m in fines to the Big Four firms over the last five years for audit failures