Stephen Haddrill, CEO, FRC sees the light and gets tougher.

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Stephen Haddrill, head of the Financial Reporting Council, appeared before MPs in one of a series of hearings held by the Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee to examine the future of the auditing industry in the wake of a number of scandals involving overstatement of profit and insolvency.

When asked whether the FRC and other regulators were “too passive and reactive”, Mr Haddrill acknowledged that he should have been less afraid to challenge companies in the courts and less accepting of received wisdom within the accounting sector.

He added that his successor should focus on “where the public interest is and where it is going to be”, not the way the profession works now.

Stephen Haddrill insisted accountancy firms are expected to spot fraudulent activities. Auditors are propagating the “mythology” that they are not responsible for detecting fraud, the head of the UK accounting watchdog told MPs on Tuesday 5th Feb 2109.

Click here for the link to ParliamentTV if you wish to see Stephen’s performance https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/f603b413-8e8b-4b6c-80d5-9359e408971a

 

Cliff Weight, Director, ShareSoc

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