The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has today published a Position Paper setting out the next steps to reform the UK’s audit and corporate governance framework.

The paper follows the Government Response to the consultation on strengthening the UK’s Corporate Governance, Corporate Reporting and Audit systems, including the creation of the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA), to replace the FRC.

The document published today builds on the areas of the Government Response that fall within the FRC’s remit, providing advanced clarity for stakeholders on how the work of reform will be delivered ahead of government legislation.

That work includes revising existing codes, strengthening auditing and accounting standards, setting expectations to drive behavioural change ahead of statutory powers, and the development of guidance to address issues set out in the Government Response.

In particular, the Position Paper sets out proposed changes to the UK Corporate Governance Code. This will provide a stronger framework for reporting on the effectiveness of internal controls and Board responsibilities for expanded sustainability and ESG reporting, and new guidance on enhanced resilience statements and fraud reporting by directors.

Kate O'Neill speaks with Mark Babington & Sarah Rapson on the FRC's transition to a new regulator

In this In-Conversation, the FRC's new CEO, Richard Moriarty, reflects on his first three months leading the organisations, talks about his view on what makes an effective regulator and discusses his priorities for the year ahead.

In-conversation with FRC CEO, Richard Moriarty

FRC Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs Kate O’Neill sits down with the Acting Director of Corporate Governance and Stewardship at the FRC, Maureen Beresford, a month after the publication of the UK Corporate Governance code to discuss the key revisions including its focus on internal controls, and the response to it so far.

Reflecting on the Revised UK Corporate Governance Code 2024

In our latest In Conversation podcast, Kate O’Neill, the FRC’s Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, speaks to Jenny Carter, the FRC’s Director of Accounting and Reporting Policy on the key changes to FRS 102 and tips for those applying the revised standard.

Key Revisions to UK and Ireland Accounting Standards

In this episode, Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, Laura Warren, incoming Director of the Market Intelligence & Insights function and Philip Fitz-Gerald, incoming Director of the Digital Reporting & Taxonomies sit down to discuss the reason for the new functions, what work they'll undertake and how the functions will benefit both the FRC and the market.

FRC restructure introduces two new functions

In this In Conversation podcast episode, Adam Mohamed, Head of Communications, explores corporate culture with Rafal Budzinski, Senior Policy Associate, discussing how organisations can effectively embed and report on their cultural principles with the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024.

Strategies and reporting insights of embedding corporate culture: UK Corporate Governance Code 2024

In this In Conversation podcast episode, Ian Stephens, Senior Corporate Affairs Manager, sits down with Maureen Beresford, Acting Director of Corporate Governance and Stewardship, to discuss the updates to the 2024 Corporate Governance Code outcomes-based reporting. Ian and Maureen discuss how companies can move beyond boilerplate statements to provide meaningful insights about the impact of their governance decisions, breaking down the practical implications of these changes and shares examples of effective reporting practices.

Navigating outcomes-based corporate governance reporting: UK Corporate Governance Code 2024

In this In Conversation podcast episode, Adam Mohamed, Head of Communications, interviews Jessica Dahlstrom, Head of Corporate Governance, exploring the nuanced "comply or explain" approach in the UK Corporate Governance Code. They discuss how companies can effectively demonstrate good governance through thoughtful explanations of code departures, emphasising flexibility and meaningful reporting.

Understanding comply or explain: UK Corporate Governance Code 2024

Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, is joined by Richard Moriarty, CEO, Mark Babington, Executive Director of Regulatory Standards, and Miranda Craig, Director of Strategy and Change to discuss the launch of a year-long campaign to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access audit services and reduce reporting burdens where possible to support their growth ambitions. 

Supporting UK SMEs to grow and scale

As part of the FRC's campaign to support SMEs to engage with and access audit, Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, and Mark Babington, Executive Director of Regulatory Standards, discuss the role of audit standards and how they can be applied in a proportionate and scalable way.

Understanding audit standards

Join Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, Mark Babington, Executive Director of Regulatory Standards, and Dhruve Shah, Deputy Director of Professional Body Supervision, as they run through some of the early themes and feedback from the FRC's SME audit market study. 

SME Audit Market Study: What we've been hearing

In this FRC ‘In Conversation’ podcast episode, Adam Mohamed, Head of Communications, discusses the recently launched digital reporting ‘Viewer’, a new free tool designed to improve access to structured company reporting data, with Phil Fitz-Gerald, Director of Digital Reporting and Taxonomies, Jennifer Guest, Head of XBRL UK Taxonomy Development, and Carl Palfrey, Lead Business Analyst at the Companies House.

Listen to hear how the Viewer unlocks vast repositories of digital data and enables investors, businesses and the public to easily access and analyse company information.

Transforming access to company data

In this podcast episode, Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, and Project Directors, Ramana McConnon and Peter Kitson, discuss the crucial role audit plays in enhancing trust, confidence and transparency in financial statements.  

What is an Audit?

In this podcast episode, Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Sarah Rapson, Executive Director of Supervision discuss the 2025 Annual Review of Audit Quality. The report explores the inspection and supervision results of audit firms across  the UK Public Interest Entity (PIE) market while also highlighting the introduction of the audit firm metrics.

FRC publishes annual audit firm inspection results

The Financial Reporting Council has revised Technical Actuarial Standard (TAS) 300 to bring greater clarity to practitioners and to ensure it continues to be fit for purpose. Join David Young, Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Andrew Bennett, Senior Actuarial Project Director, and Mark Harris, Actuarial Project Director, as they discuss what revisions in TAS 300 v2.1 mean in practice.

TAS 300: Revising the Technical Actuarial Standard for Pensions

In our latest In Conversation podcast, Kate O’Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, is joined by Elizabeth Barrett, Executive Director of Enforcement & Executive Counsel, to discuss the latest Annual Enforcement Review, the ongoing End-to-End Enforcement review, and how this will shape the future of Enforcement at the FRC. 

In Conversation: Annual Enforcement Review

Richard Moriarty, CEO, joins Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, to discuss what the FRC has accomplished so far this year, take stock of the current political and economic environment, and give updates about the progress of some of its larger projects such as the Future of Audit Supervision Strategy, End to End Enforcement Review and SME audit market study. 

In Conversation with Richard Moriarty, CEO

In this In Conversation podcast episode, Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, is joined by Tara Trousdale, Finance Director, Rob Amponsah, Senior Marketing and Digital Communications Manager, and Kristianne Russell, Stakeholder Engagement Manager, to discuss the FRC's Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25. They explore how the FRC successfully reduced the report's length by 30% over the last three years while transitioning to new reporting requirements, the collaborative approach to avoiding repetition and enhancing accessibility, and reporting with the same transparency and clarity expected from regulated organisations.

Building the FRC's Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

In this first instalment of the FRC's new podcast series on the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024, Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, explores how the revised Code encourages Boards to support consistent cultures in their companies with Lauren Tynen, Senior Corporate Governance Policy Associate, and Anneke Thordsen, Audit Market Supervision Project Director.

In Conversation: Exploring Culture - UK Corporate Governance Code 2024

For the second episode of the FRC's podcast series exploring the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024, Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, sits down to discuss the principles-based nature of corporate governance and the importance of 'comply or explain' with Tedi Jorgi, Senior Corporate Governance Policy Associate, and Paul Lee, Head of Stewardship and Sustainable Investment Strategy at Redington.

The conversation explores why the UK's principles-based approach empowers boards rather than constrains them, addresses misconceptions around 'comply or else', and discusses how companies can embrace the flexibility the code offers whilst delivering meaningful reporting.

In Conversation: Applying Principles - UK Corporate Governance Code 2024

Following on from the FRC's recent podcast episode on exploring 'What is an Audit', Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, is joined once again by Project Directors, Ramana McConnon and Peter Kitson, to delve into the key differences between audit and assurance. They also unpack the FRC's regulatory role in assurance, and the standards that govern it.  

In Conversation: What’s the difference between statutory audit and assurance?

Join Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs and Sarah Rapson, Executive Director of Supervision, as they discuss the FRC's latest phase of engagement on the Future of Audit Supervision Strategy (FASS). This episode explores how the FRC may evolve its supervisory approach to centre on firms' systems of quality management, moving towards a more proportionate and qualitative framework that supports audit quality across the entire market. Sarah shares insights from extensive stakeholder engagement and outlines key proposals including changes to inspection approaches and reporting methods. The consultation, running until 30 September, seeks views from all stakeholders with an interest in creating a supervisory environment that promotes a resilient audit market whilst reducing regulatory burden and supporting trust and confidence in UK businesses.

A consultation on the Future of Audit Supervision

For the third episode of the FRC's podcast series exploring the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024, Kate O’Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, is joined by Maureen Beresford, Director of Corporate Governance and Stewardship at the FRC, and Wendy Barnes, portfolio non-executive director and cyber resilience advisor.

The conversation focuses on the growing importance of cyber risk in corporate governance, particularly in light of the revised Code coming into effect in 2026. They discuss how boards can approach cyber risk as a strategic issue rather than a purely technical one, the role of board-level oversight, and the importance of building organisational resilience. The episode also highlights practical tools and frameworks available to support boards in navigating this evolving area.

In Conversation: Board leadership in relation to cyber risk - UK Corporate Governance Code 2024

In the final episode of the FRC's podcast series on the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024, Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, is joined by Maureen Beresford, Director of Corporate Governance and Stewardship, and Kelvin Ernest Senior Policy Associate in the Corporate Governance team, for a thought-provoking discussion on the importance of remuneration and the vital role of the remuneration committee. Together, they unpack the purpose and significance of Section 5 of the Code, and explore why it plays such a crucial role in today's evolving corporate landscape.

In Conversation: Remuneration - UK Corporate Governance Code 2024

In this In Conversation podcast episode, Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, discusses the FRC's emerging findings of its market study examining how small and medium-sixed enterprises (SMEs) engage with the audit market alongside Laura Warren, Director of Market Intelligence and Insights, Dhruve Shah, Deputy Director of Professional Bodies Supervision, and Peter Kitson, Audit and Assurance Project Director. 
 
Kate, Laura, Dhruve and Peter speak about the importance of proportionality and scalability in audit standards, how the FRC has facilitated this by developing a practice note to help auditors apply ISAs more proportionately to smaller entities, and the various other proposed remedies emerging from the study's findings.
 
Details of how to take part in the next steps of the FRC's year long campaign to support SME's access to audit can be found on the FRC's website, including an invite to join its upcoming roundtables beginning 9 September 2025. 

Findings and remedies from the FRC's SME audit market study

Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, sits down with Pauline Wallace, Chair of the UK Endorsement Board, as she prepares to step down on 10 September after 5 years leading the UKEB. Pauline has seen the UKEB grow from its conception to the influential organisation that we see today, and in this podcast she reflects on major achievements and why the UKEB is critical to the UK’s financial reporting environment. 

In Conversation with Pauline Wallace: Five years as UKEB Chair

For this In Conversation podcast episode, Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, discusses the key changes in the recently revised UK Stewardship Code with Andrea Tweedie, Head of Stewardship.

Kate and Andrea cover the fundamental updates to the Code, including the revised definition of stewardship, its new reporting structure and restructured principles which differentiate between asset managers, asset owners, and service providers. They discuss the 2026 transition year arrangements, explaining how the transition year will work for existing signatories. Kate and Andrea also speak about the application process, touching on the support available for new and existing signatories.

UK Stewardship Code 2026: What you need to know

In this episode, Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, speaks with Andrew Meek, Director of Audit Firm Supervision, about the FRC's new initiative to build capacity and resilience in the smaller audit firm market.

They discuss how this collaborative approach will help smaller firms strengthen their quality management systems and explore the benefits for the wider UK audit market, including improved audit quality and greater choice for companies seeking audit services.

Building Capacity for Smaller Firms

In this episode Kate O'Neill, our Director of Stakeholder of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs sits down with our CEO, Richard Moriarty and Director of Strategy and Change, Miranda Craig to discuss the launch of the FRC's new Innovation and Improvement Hub which aims to create an explorative space to work collaboratively with market participants on issues of common concern.

Launching the FRC's Innovation and Improvement Hub

In this episode, Richard Moriarty, CEO, joins Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement
and Corporate Affairs, to discuss the FRC's proposals to update the Audit Enforcement Procedure as part of its End-to-end Enforcement Process Review. The proposals aim to expand the FRC's regulatory toolkit to deliver proportionate responses to different types of failings, and Richard and Kate discuss how the proposed expansion from two enforcement routes to five will enable this, before outlining the FRC's comprehensive plan to engage with a range of stakeholders across webinars and roundtables.
 
The FRC is hosting a webinar on Wednesday 8 October to discuss the proposals in detail, with an
opportunity for Q&A with the expert speakers: Elizabeth Barrett, Executive Director of Enforcement, Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, and Anthony Barrett, Director of Audit Quality Review.

Financial Reporting Council

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