§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the bodies which will be responsible for regulating accountancy, audit and insolvency when her proposed new regulatory structures take effect. [109234]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonOn 9 January 2003 my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry announced a number of changes to the regulatory regime of the accountancy and audit professions. In future, it is envisaged that the Financial312W Reporting Council and its five Boards (the Accounting Standards Board, the Auditing Practices Board, the Financial Reporting Review Panel, the Investigation and Discipline Board, and the Professional Oversight Board) will have responsibilities for the setting of accounting and auditing standards; enforcement or monitoring; and the oversight of the regulation of their members by the six accountancy bodies which comprise the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies: the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (1CAEW), the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (1CAI), the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS); the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.
Five professional accountancy bodies have been recognised by the Secretary of State to act as a recognised supervisory body under the Companies Act 1989: the ACCA, 1 C AEW, ICAI, ICAS, and the Association of Authorised Public Accountants. These bodies will continue to have a supervisory role in respect of those persons who under their rules are eligible for appointment as auditor. The ACCA, ICAEW, ICAI and ICAS and the Association of International Accountants also have their professional qualifications relating to audit work recognised under the Companies Act 1989.
My right hon Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry will continue to exercise her functions relating to the grant, refusal and revocation of recognition under the Companies Act 1989 in respect of supervisory bodies and professional qualifications unless these functions are transferred to a body established by a delegation order under that Act.
Under the Insolvency Practitioners' (Recognised Professional Bodies) Order 1986 the following bodies will continue, with the Secretary of State, to be responsible for the licensing of insolvency practitioners: the ACCA, ICAEW, 1C AS, ICAI, the Insolvency Practitioners' Association, the Law Society of Scotland and the Law Society.