FRC’s plans for more flexible enforcement gains support

Plans to give the U.K.’s audit regulator more options to regulate firms for sloppy work have been largely well received by experts, who believe the current system is “inflexible,” “cumbersome,” and “slow.”

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has faced sustained criticism over recent years for slow enforcement, its limited powers (and appetite to use them) and perceived regulatory failures following major corporate collapses like construction firm Carillion and travel company Thomas Cook. Parliamentary inquiries, media scrutiny, and public concern have also highlighted the regulator’s inability to generally hold company directors accountable for corporate governance failings unless these executives have an auditing or accounting qualification.