HL Deb 08 December 2003 vol 655 c46WA
Lord Taylor of Warwick

asked Her Majesty's Government: What steps they will take to introduce independent regulation of accountancy firms.[HL34]

Lord Sainsbury of Turville

The Accountancy Foundation and its associated bodies were set up in 2000 to provide non-statutory independent regulation of the accountancy profession. In response to the interim report of the Co-ordinating Group on Accounting and Auditing Issues, the Government announced in July 2002 that there would be an immediate review of the way the accountancy and audit professions were regulated. The main recommendation was that the Financial Reporting Council should take over the functions of the Accountancy Foundation to create a new independent regulator.

I announced on 29 January 2003 that the Government accepted all the recommendations of the review. The aim is to bring the new Financial Reporting Council formally into being early in 2004. To complement these non-legislative reforms, the Government will be introducing a Bill in this Session that will include provisions to strengthen the independence of the system of audit regulation.