19 December 2017

FRC Strategy for businesses, investors and public trust

The FRC has published its three year (2018/21) strategy and its budget for the 2018/19 financial year. Its strategy is to deliver increased confidence and public trust in UK companies in line with its mission to promote transparency and integrity in business.

The FRC’s revised UK Corporate Governance Code, alongside a globally respected reporting framework, attracts long-term capital investment to British businesses and supports the public interest through job creation and economic wellbeing. The revised Code will ensure that companies view their obligations to shareholders with due regard to their impact on wider society. 
As the UK’s competent authority for audit regulation, the FRC proposes to extend its oversight of the audit profession with new monitoring and supervisory arrangements for the largest audit firms. These will include a focus on the firms’ leadership and governance, values and behaviour, business model and financial soundness, risk management and control, and evidence of audit quality.
The FRC will continue to enhance the speed and effectiveness of its enforcement activities and has committed to increased transparency when closing enforcement cases. The FRC is considering the findings of the sanction reviews conducted by former Court of Appeal Judge, Sir Christopher Clarke, to ensure that sanctions imposed continue to be fair, effective and in the public interest.
The FRC will not increase the amount it raises through its preparers, insurance and pension levies compared with 2017/18.
The 2018/19 budget reflects:

• an increase in its core operating costs of 3% compared to 2017/18;
• no further increase in general reserves in 2018/19, and
• the cost of implementing the new audit firm monitoring and supervision proposals in 2018/19 which will be recovered from the audit professional bodies.

Full press release

 

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