AADB Issues Guidance for Prosecution Decisions Under its Accountancy Scheme
News types: Guidance
Published: 31 March 2011
AADB PN 31
The Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB), an operating body of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), today issues guidance to its Executive Counsel in respect of decisions to deliver disciplinary complaints under its Accountancy Scheme.
The guidance is issued following changes that were made to the Accountancy Scheme in 2010.
The AADB also publishes a feedback statement following the consultation it held on this guidance in 2010.
The guidance was developed taking particular account of the absence of an alternative to a disciplinary hearing for dealing with alleged misconduct and is designed to ensure that a case that meets evidential requirements should normally be the subject of a disciplinary hearing unless that is clearly not in the public interest.
Timothy Walker, AADB Chairman, said: “The Board thanks all those who responded to its consultation for their support. This guidance is being issued by the Board with the intention of providing further transparency in the AADB’s processes and promoting consistency in the decision-making process.”
The feedback statement, “Guidance on the Delivery of Formal Complaints” (PDF), is available to read or download.
Notes to Editors
The Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB), an operating body of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), today issues guidance to its Executive Counsel in respect of decisions to deliver disciplinary complaints under its Accountancy Scheme.
The guidance is issued following changes that were made to the Accountancy Scheme in 2010.
The AADB also publishes a feedback statement following the consultation it held on this guidance in 2010.
The guidance was developed taking particular account of the absence of an alternative to a disciplinary hearing for dealing with alleged misconduct and is designed to ensure that a case that meets evidential requirements should normally be the subject of a disciplinary hearing unless that is clearly not in the public interest.
Timothy Walker, AADB Chairman, said: “The Board thanks all those who responded to its consultation for their support. This guidance is being issued by the Board with the intention of providing further transparency in the AADB’s processes and promoting consistency in the decision-making process.”
The feedback statement, “Guidance on the Delivery of Formal Complaints” (PDF), is available to read or download.
Notes to Editors
- The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the UK’s independent regulator responsible for promoting confidence in corporate reporting and governance. Its functions are exercised principally by its operating boards (the Accounting Standards Board, the Auditing Practices Board, the Board for Actuarial Standards, the Financial Reporting Review Panel, the Professional Oversight Board, and the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board). The Committee on Corporate Governance, whose members are drawn from the Board of the FRC, assists it in its work on corporate governance.
- The Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board ("AADB") is the independent, investigative and disciplinary body for accountants and actuaries in the UK. The AADB is responsible for operating and administering independent disciplinary schemes for these professions. The Accountancy Scheme covers Members of the following accountants' professional bodies:- the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The Actuarial Scheme covers Members of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (formerly the Institute of Actuaries) and the Faculty of Actuaries (prior to its merger with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries).
- The focus of the AADB is on cases which raise important issues affecting the public interest; other disciplinary cases will continue to be dealt with by the relevant professional body. The purpose of an investigation is to determine whether there is evidence of misconduct on the part of Members or Member Firms of the professional bodies. An investigation does not always mean that an allegation has been made or that there is evidence of misconduct on the part of the Member or Member Firm involved.
- Disciplinary complaints filed following an AADB investigation are heard by an independent Tribunal which will normally sit in public. If the Tribunal upholds a complaint, there is a wide range of sanctions which it can impose including an unlimited fine, exclusion from membership of a professional body covered by one of the Schemes and withdrawal of practising certificates or licenses.
Document created under a former FRC operating body.