FRC Codes & Standards Committee and Council Appointments
News types: Staff/Board Announcements
Published: 14 October 2015
PN 58/15
The FRC has announced retirements and appointments to its Codes & Standards Committee and changes to the membership of its advisory Councils.
Sue Harris and Ashok Gupta joined the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) Codes & Standards (C&S) Committee on 1 October 2015. Sue Harris is also a member of the FRC’s Audit & Assurance Council, while Ashok Gupta currently serves on the Actuarial Council. They will continue on the Councils alongside their new positions on the C&S Committee. Keith Barton and Allister Wilson stepped down from the C&S Committee on 30 September 2015, and respectively from the Actuarial Council and from the Audit & Assurance Council.
Dominic Veney and Martin Burke joined the FRC’s Actuarial Council from 21 September. Stephen Oxley joined the Audit & Assurance Council on 1 October 2015 and Bryan Foss will join on 14 October 2015.
Commenting on the appointments, Nick Land, Chair of the Codes & Standards Committee said,
“Sue Harris brings with her a wealth of experience on the boards of large and mid-sized companies, as well as experience as an audit committee chair. Her long career in the financial services and retail sectors will bring clear benefit to the Committee.
Ashok Gupta brings an in-depth knowledge and experience of financial services, in particular, the insurance and pensions sectors where he concentrated his work.
We also look forward to benefitting from the insight and advice of Dominic Veney and Martin Burke on the Actuarial Council and Stephen Oxley and Bryan Foss on the Audit and Assurance Council.
I would like to thank Keith Barton and Allister Wilson for their service on the Codes & Standards Committee and FRC Councils”.
Notes to editors:
1. The FRC is responsible for promoting high quality corporate governance and reporting to foster investment. We set the UK Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes as well as UK standards for accounting, auditing and actuarial work. We represent UK interests in international standard-setting. We also monitor and take action to promote the quality of corporate reporting and auditing. We operate independent disciplinary arrangements for accountants and actuaries; and oversee the regulatory activities of the accountancy and actuarial professional bodies.
2. New Council/Committee Members biographies:
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Sue Harris is an independent non-executive director and chair of the audit committee of Abcam an AIM listed biotech company and Bank of Ireland UK. She was previously a non-executive director of Saint James’s Place, chair of the Finance and Audit Committees at Mencap (the leading charity for people with a learning disability) and Chair of Trustees of KCP Youth. She has held senior executive positions in the Financial Services and Retail sectors. Most recently at Lloyds Banking Group she was Group Audit Director and prior to that the Group's Financial Control Director, the Director leading the Bank’s potential accession into the Government Asset Protection Scheme, Finance Director of LBG's Retail Bank and Finance Director of Cheltenham & Gloucester. She has held a number of other senior finance executive positions including as Managing Director Finance at Standard Life and as Head of Corporate Development and Group Treasurer of Marks & Spencer.
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Ashok Gupta chairs AA Insurance Services and eValue Investment Solutions and has chaired Skandia UK. He was a Founder Director of the Phoenix Group, and a non-executive director of Old Mutual Wealth and J Rothschild Assurance plc (now St James’s Place Capital). He was Deputy Chair of a recent Bank of England Working Party on Procyclicality resulting from life insurance and pension fund activity.
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Stephen Oxley is a senior partner at KPMG. Based in London, Stephen qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1996 and has been a partner with the firm since 2001. He has worked across a number of industries and in various roles including audit and management consulting; advising clients on financial reporting and accounting; acquisitions and divestments; business integration; corporate governance and financing. He is the currently the senior statutory auditor for BHP Billiton, Johnson Matthey and Smith and Nephew.
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Dominic Veney is a partner with PwC and is a qualified actuary leading the firm's life insurance offering. While at PwC, Dom has worked with many clients across a range of assignments. He is currently reviewing actuary for Standard Life and Equitable Life as well as leading the actuarial support to the audit of HSBC globally. In addition to audit roles, Dom has assisted a number of clients in improving the effectiveness of their actuarial and finance functions, including designing target operating models, identifying and implementing improvements to existing processes, helping with rationalisation of locations and other aspects of change management. Most recently Dom has been supporting clients to understand the impact of financial reporting changes on their systems and process including the proposed changes to IFRS for insurance.
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Bryan Foss is an independent director with Motive Television plc, UK Oracle Users Group and aSource Global ltd. He has more than 10 years audit and assurance committee experience in public and private sectors, including the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP), DCLG and now City College Brighton and Hove. Bryan performs overseas export assurance assessments for British Chambers of Commerce and UKTI and as a Visiting Professor with Bristol Business School he also lectures on board risk, assurance and governance matters at Henley and Oxford. In addition to his IoD Fellow and Chartered Director qualifications, Bryan is also a Chartered Engineer, BCS, IDM and CIM Fellow, CISI Member and holder of the ACCA Certified Diploma in Accounting & Finance. Bryan’s international executive career was primarily with IBM Corporation and previously with Nestle.
3. Codes and Standards Committee
The Codes & Standards Committee is responsible for advising the FRC Board on maintaining an effective framework of UK codes and standards for Corporate Governance, Stewardship, Accounting, Auditing and Assurance, and Actuarial technical standards. Codes & Standards Committee also advises on influencing the wider regulatory framework and on the FRC’s research programme. It advises the FRC Board on the Annual Plan for Codes and Standards work and for making appointments to, and overseeing the work of, the Councils. It pays special attention to identifying cross-cutting issues that the FRC needs to tackle, looking across the coverage of individual codes and standards, identifying emerging risks and ensuring work is in hand to manage them. It advises the Board on corporate governance questions. It also decides those matters delegated to it by the Board, for example, on some international issues.
The FRC Board and the Codes & Standards Committee are advised by three Councils covering Accounting (including both accounting and narrative reporting), Audit & Assurance and Actuarial work. These are an important part of the decision-making structure. Their advice is put fully to the FRC Board. The Board member chairing each Council is responsible for submitting the Council’s advice to the Board.
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Audit and Assurance Council
The Audit and Assurance Council considers and advises the FRC Board and the Codes and Standards Committee on audit and assurance matters.
The Audit and Assurance Council:
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Provides strategic input and thought leadership, both in its area of expertise and the work-plan of the FRC as a whole. This involves “horizon-scanning” and consulting with practitioners or users;
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Considers and advises the FRC Board upon draft Codes and Standards (or amendments thereto) to ensure that a high quality, effective and proportionate approach is taken;
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Considers and comments upon proposed developments in relation to international Codes and Standards and regulations; and
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Considers and advises on research proposals and other initiatives undertaken to inform the FRC on matters material to its remit and any resultant publications.
The Council comprises the Chair, who is a non-executive Director of the FRC Board, and up to eleven members. Up to half of the membership shall be practising members of the audit profession.
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Actuarial Council
The Actuarial Council aims to be a leading authority on actuarial matters, widely respected by the FRC’s stakeholders for the depth and objectivity of its views and for the quality of its engagement with stakeholders. The Actuarial Council seeks to discharge its responsibilities in a manner which commands respect and carries weight so that actuarial matters are fully and appropriately considered by the FRC Board and its Committees.
The FRC relies on the advice of its Councils, the membership of which comprises experienced individuals who are highly respected by the FRC’s wide range of stakeholders. Council members have a range of experience: some with technical expertise and others as users, for example from an investor or corporate background. The Council comprises the Chair and up to eleven members, up to half of the membership shall be practising members of the actuarial profession; the remainder are “users” of actuarial information and other stakeholders.