Watchdog will probe accounts for Autonomy February 11, 2013 THE ACCOUNTING watchdog has opened a probe into former FTSE 100 software firm Autonomy’s accounts for the years leading up to its controversial takeover by Hewlett-Packard. The Financial Reporting Council said yesterday it will look at Autonomy’s reporting between 1 January 2009 and 30 June 2011, shortly before the $11.1bn (£7bn) offer from HP was [...]
Auditor Ernst & Young cleared over Lehman January 29, 2013 ERNST and Young will not face any action relating to its work with Lehman Brothers in the year before the bank’s collapse, the Financial Reporting Council ruled yesterday. The Big Four auditor had faced claims it had been too lenient on the bank, signing off their reports into its European arm despite Lehman breaking the [...]
Watchdog says boards should look for risks on the horizon January 29, 2013 COMPANY boards and auditors need to be more vigilant about long-term risks to financial health, according to tighter rules from the Financial Reporting Council written in the wake of the credit crisis. The FRC said today it wants directors to consider threats to their business models and capital levels at least a year into the [...]
Audit watchdog hikes business levy by 8.5pc January 22, 2013 THE UK’S audit watchdog has announced plans to hike levy rates by 8.5 per cent. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC)’s move was criticised by firms yesterday but the regulator said the increase was necessary as it attempts to clear a backlog of cases and deals with extra regulation. The FRC is upping its budget by 10 [...]
Auditors need to pitch again every 10 years September 27, 2012 BRITAIN’S biggest companies should put their audit contracts out to tender at least once a decade, the Financial Reporting Council said as it set out a major overhaul of its guidance today. The regulator also calls on boards to end the practice of trumpeting positive news in annual reports, while keeping other figures hidden among [...]
Bean counters cut the clutter September 26, 2012 ACCOUNTANTS have listened to a campaign to “cut clutter” from company reports, the Financial Reporting Council said yesterday. But the council remains worried about the reporting quality of some smaller listed firms, after reviewing 326 sets of accounts last year. The FRC is this week expected to call on companies to regularly put their audit [...]
VOTES ON TOP PAY June 20, 2012 ■ Shareholders in publicly listed UK firms will get a binding vote on directors’ pay policy every three years. ■ They will vote on the whole package, covering salaries, bonuses and exactly what determines the level of pay. ■ That includes severance packages, in an effort to end “rewards for failure” when unsuccessful bosses leave [...]
Audit quality threatened by fee pressure June 14, 2012 PRESSURE to reduce fees poses a threat to the quality of British auditing, a leading member of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said yesterday, as the body issued its annual reports on the performance of the country’s four largest accountancy firms. Paul George, the organisation’s executive director of conduct, told City A.M.: “Commercial pressures run the [...]
Shareholder activism is set to grow further June 12, 2012 INSTITUTIONAL investors are taking an increasingly active role in the firms in which they invest, according to new research that shows the changes in attitude that paved the way for the shareholder spring. Investors are more likely than ever to demand firms provide clarity on long-term strategy and redraft executive pay deals to incentivise good [...]
With chief executives toppling – the shareholder is king this spring May 15, 2012 IT’S been four years since the darkest days of the global financial crisis, but its reverberations continue. From all sorts of different stakeholders, numerous reports and reviews have been launched to look into the causes of the crisis and there have been plenty of recommendations for reform to prevent lightning from striking twice. Up until [...]