CRR Case Summaries and Entity-specific Press Notices

The FRC publishes, on a quarterly basis, summaries of its findings from recently closed reviews that resulted in a substantive question to a company (‘Case Summaries’). In addition, it publishes the names of companies whose reviews were closed in the previous quarter without the need for a substantive question. No Case Summary is prepared for such reviews.

Case Summaries, which are available for cases closed in the quarter ending March 2021 onwards, are included in the table below. As, currently, the FRC is subject to existing legal restrictions on disclosing confidential information received from a company, the Case Summaries can only be disclosed with the company's consent. Where consent has been withheld by the company, that fact is disclosed in the table.

From March 2018 until March 2021, the FRC published the names of companies whose reviews were closed in the previous quarter but did not prepare Case Summaries. However, on an exceptional basis, specific cases may be publicised through entity-specific Press Notices, which can also be found in the table below.

The FRC’s reviews are based solely on the company’s annual report and accounts (or interim reports) and do not benefit from detailed knowledge of the company’s business or an understanding of the underlying transactions entered into. They are, however, conducted by staff of the FRC who have an understanding of the relevant legal and accounting framework. The FRC’s correspondence with the company provides no assurance that the annual report and accounts (or interim reports) are correct in all material respects; the FRC’s role is not to verify the information provided but to consider compliance with reporting requirements. The FRC’s correspondence is written on the basis that the FRC (which includes the FRC’s officers, employees and agents) accepts no liability for reliance on its letters or Case Summaries by the company or any third party, including but not limited to investors and shareholders.

Key

  1. Only a certain number of CRR’s reviews result in substantive questioning of the Board. Matters raised may cover questions of recognition, measurement and/or disclosure.
  2. CRR’s routine reviews of companies’ annual reports and accounts generally cover all parts over which the FRC has statutory powers (that is, strategic reports, directors’ reports and financial statements). Similarly, CRR’s routine reviews of companies’ interim reports will generally cover all information in that document. Limited scope reviews arise for a number of reasons, including those conducted when a company’s annual report and accounts or interim report are selected for thematic review or reviews that have been prompted by a complaint. In accordance with the FRC's Operating Procedures, for Corporate Reporting Review, CRR does not identify those companies whose reviews were prompted by a complaint.
  3. The FRC may ask a company to refer to its exchanges with CRR when the company makes a change to a significant aspect of its annual report and accounts or interim report in response to a review.
  4. Case closed after 1 January 2021 but performed under operating procedures that did not allow for the publication of Case Summaries.
  5. From the quarter ended June 2023, the FRC started identifying the auditor of the annual report and accounts, or the audit firm that issued a review report on the interim report, that was the subject of the CRR review. This information was also back-dated for closed cases publicised from the quarter ended September 2022. Cases marked N/A relate to those published prior to September 2022 or interim reviews that did not have a review opinion.’

Case Summaries

CRR Case Summaries and Entity-specific Press Notices (Excel version)

1 case summaries matching your criteria
Entity The National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Society Limited
Balance Sheet Date 31 December 2021
Exchange of Substantive Letters (1) Yes
Scope of Review (2) Limited
Quarter Published December 2022
Auditor (5) N/A
Case Summary / Press Notice

Business interruption claims due to the Covid-19 pandemic

We asked for further information about the insurer’s potential exposure to claims for business interruption (BI) due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its approach to accounting for, and the disclosure of, a related potential group action threatened against the company.

The company provided a satisfactory response to our enquiry. It clarified that, as an insurer, and as potential liabilities relating to its insurance contracts or claims which may arise from such contracts are accounted for under FRS 103 ‘Insurance Contracts’, the requirements of section 21 ‘Provisions and Contingencies’ of FRS 102 did not apply in relation to BI claims or the threatened group action.

The company explained that it had not provided FRS 103 disclosures about the BI claims, including the threatened group action, because the potential exposure regarding the nature and extent of the risk was not determined to be material to its 2021 annual accounts.