FRC Quarterly Strategic Progress and Planning Report - January 2009

FRC PN 252 - 5 January 2009

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the UK’s independent regulator responsible for promoting confidence in corporate reporting and governance, has today published a report on its work in the quarter October-December 2008.

During the quarter, the FRC published five documents to assist market participants in considering the heightened risks associated with current tougher economic conditions:

• challenges for audit committees arising from current market conditions
• an update for directors of listed companies: going concern and liquidity risk
• a study of companies’ disclosures on going concern and liquidity risk, with conclusions and recommendations for improvements
• a bulletin for auditors on going concern issues during the current economic conditions
• a list of questions for governing bodies of pension schemes and sponsoring employer, insurance companies and other entities which rely on actuarial work.

The FRC’s other publications during the quarter included:

• the second progress report on Choice in the UK Audit Market
• the FRC Audit Inspection Unit’s first high-level reports on most of the largest audit firms
• a revised version of the Smith Guidance on Audit Committees
• a consultation paper on whether UK auditing standards should be updated for clarified international auditing standards
• a consultation paper on modelling by the Board for Actuarial Standards
• a feedback paper on actuarial mortality assumptions
• the FRC’s Draft Plan for 2009/10, Proposed Updates to the Strategic Framework and 2009/10 Levy Proposals
• a feedback statement on the cost-effectiveness of its regulation
• a feedback statement on its future funding arrangements.

In the January- March 2009 quarter, the FRC is planning to publish:

• the outcome of the review of the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board’s accountancy scheme
• a feedback statement on the draft standard on actuarial reporting
• feedback statements, including recommendations, on the drivers of actuarial quality and the monitoring and scrutiny of actuarial work.

FRC Chief Executive, Paul Boyle, said:

“During the quarter, we have focused our attention on ways in which we could help market participants identify and plan for the reporting and governance challenges arising from current tough economic conditions. We issued updates for boards, preparers, auditors and actuaries.

During the next quarter we will issue fewer documents for consultation and will focus on monitoring the responses of market participants to the reporting and governance challenges.”

Related document: FRC Quarterly Strategic Progress & Planning Report (January 2009)