Financial Reporting zone

Financial reporting briefs: May 2008

The FRC has announced the appointment of Timothy Walker as the next Chair of the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB) and as an executive director of the FRC.
The appointment follows the decision earlier this year by Mike Fogden, the AADB Chair since 2001, not to seek a further term of office. His replacement takes over on 1 June.

Timothy Walker retired from the civil service in 2005, having spent much of it at the then Department of Trade Industry. In his last post he served as director general of the Health and Safety Executive, to which he was appointed in 2000. Unfortunately his tenure coincided with the Hatfield, Tebay, Selby, Potters Bar and Ufton Nervet rail accidents, and saw responsibility for rail safety subsequently passing to the newly formed Office of Rail Regulation. Prior to this he was deputy chairman at Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise.

His current interests include a major non-executive director role in the National Health Service and some arts and charitable activities. Since 2006, he has been Third Church Estates Commissioner.

During his civil service career, Walker worked on a number of high profile regulatory matters, including privatisation of the utility industry. He also worked with a number of nationalised industries, including BT, British Nuclear Fuels Ltd and the Post Office. He also gained valuable experience of the European Union while on secondment to the Home Office

“I am delighted that Timothy Walker has agreed to become the next Chair of the AADB,” said Sir Christopher Hogg, FRC Chair. “I am confident that his wide and deep experience of public service in general and regulatory issues in particular will be of great value not only to the AADB, but also to the FRC as a whole.”

1 May - Notification of changes of auditors to the appropriate audit authority

The Professional oversight Board (POB) has issued guidance on Sections 522 to 525 of the Companies Act 2006, which sets new requirements on auditors and companies to notify the “appropriate audit authority” when an auditor ceases to hold office. It is important to stress that both auditors and companies need to deliver notification, and that there are significant differences in the detailed requirements on auditors and on companies.
These requirements came into force on 6 April 2008. In some circumstances the appropriate audit authority is the POB itself. Further notification requirements are still being planned, and the POB promises to give additional guidance when all legislative requirements have been finalised.
Queries in relation to this guidance can be emailed to
auditorchange@frc-pob.org.uk. Alternatively, callers can phone John Grewe on 0207 492 2345.

The POB has set out its guidance by means of two flowcharts, with links to explanatory notes, which you can read here.

Previous financial reporting briefs:

April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
Septmeber 2007
August 2007
July 2007