Aims and Objectives
The Professional Oversight Board contributes to the achievement of the Financial Reporting Council's own fundamental aim of supporting investor, market and public confidence in the financial and governance stewardship of listed and other entities by:
- independent oversight of the regulation of the auditing profession by the recognised supervisory and qualifying bodies;
- monitoring the quality of the auditing function in relation to economically significant entities;
- independent oversight of the regulation of the accountancy profession by the professional accountancy bodies;
- independent oversight of the regulation of the actuarial profession by the professional actuarial bodies and promoting high quality actuarial work.
In relation to audit, the Board achieves its aims by:
- Discharging on behalf of the FRC the statutory responsibilities delegated to it by the Secretary of State for authorising professional accountancy bodies to act as supervisory bodies and/or to offer a recognised professional qualification. As part of this activity, the Board will assess whether:
- the recognised supervisory and qualifying bodies comply with all the statutory requirements for recognition set out in the Companies Act 1989;
- the recognised supervisory bodies comply with the independent standard setting, monitoring and disciplinary arrangements which the legislation provides for.
Monitoring the audit quality of economically significant entities through an independent Audit Inspection Unit (AIU). The unit will monitor audit quality by reviewing audit processes including audit judgements. It will:
- agree with audit firms amendments to their procedures where appropriate;
- make recommendations to the recognised supervisory bodies for appropriate regulatory action; and where appropriate refer matters to the AIDB and the FRRP
In relation to the regulation of the accountancy profession, the Board intends to achieve its aims by:
- Reviewing the regulatory activities of the professional accountancy bodies in relation to their members, including education, training, continuing professional development, standards, ethical matters (except those which are the responsibility of the Auditing Practices Board) professional conduct and discipline, registration and monitoring, including making recommendations on how these activities might be improved
In relation to the regulation of the actuarial profession, the Board intends to achieve its aims by:
- Reviewing the regulatory activities of the professional actuarial bodies in relation to their members, including education, training, continuing professional development, ethical standards, professional conduct and discipline, practising certificates and monitoring, including making recommendations on how these activities might be improved;
- Promoting a framework for effective scrutiny and monitoring of the quality of actuarial work, including compliance with actuarial standards in the UK, and reviewing its effectiveness.
Key staff
Key staff supporting the work of the Oversight Board are:
| Director: |
Paul George 0207 492 2340 |
| Secretariat and International: |
John Grewe 0207 492 2345 |
| Accountancy and audit |
Shazia Ahmad 0207 492 2339 |
| |
Tracy Neilson 0207 492 2343 |
| |
David Stubbs 0207 492 2321 |
| Head of Actuarial Oversight: |
Paul Kennedy 0207 492 2347 |
| Actuarial Oversight |
Jon Thorne 0207 492 2333 |
| Enquiries: |
0207 492 2341 |
