Sanctions against Amanda Nightingale (née Cleaver)
News types: Investigations
Published: 14 November 2024
This Press Notice concerns the outcome of an investigation into Ms Amanda Nightingale. It would not be fair to treat any part of this announcement as constituting findings in respect of the conduct of any other persons or entities.
The Executive Counsel of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has entered into a Settlement Agreement with Ms Nightingale, under the terms of the Accountancy Scheme and imposed significant sanctions in respect of her conduct in her role as the Senior Manager on a number of audits undertaken by BDO LLP between 2015 and 2019.
The following sanctions were imposed on Ms Nightingale as part of the settlement:
- Exclusion from the ICAEW for a recommended period of 20 years;
- A Condition that she shall not undertake any accountancy work for a period of 20 years[1] ; and
- A published statement in the form of a Severe Reprimand.
Ms Nightingale has also paid a contribution of £10,000 towards Executive Counsel’s costs of the investigation, having taken into account her financial circumstances.
As set out in the Particulars of Fact and Acts of Misconduct on numerous occasions between 2015 and 2019 the conduct of Ms Nightingale fell severely short of the standards expected of a member of the ICAEW and has brought discredit to herself, BDO LLP, and the accountancy profession in that she:
- caused or permitted auditor’s reports to be issued without approval from the audit engagement partner, including by inserting electronic copies of the signature of the partners responsible for the relevant audits without their authorisation;
- inserted electronic copies of the signatures of the audit engagement partners in other documents, including company accounts which she then filed at Companies House, without their authorisation;
- created false documents, and falsified existing documents, including audit evidence; and
- deceived a number of audit engagement partners and audited entities.
Ms Nightingale acted with sustained dishonesty over a five year period in relation to a large number of audits. Although the audited entities involved were generally smaller, private companies, the dishonesty and scale of Misconduct in this case was extremely serious. BDO has implemented significant changes to its systems and controls since the Misconduct which are being closely monitored by the FRC’s Supervision function.
The FRC issued Proposed Formal Complaints[2] (PFCs) under the Accountancy Scheme against BDO and two former audit engagement partners on 2 August 2024. The PFCs allege Misconduct against those parties following the FRC’s wider investigation into how Ms Nightingale’s Misconduct was able to occur and endure over such a long period.
Jamie Symington, Deputy Executive Counsel, said:
"The failures in this case are wide ranging and extremely serious. By deliberately signing audit reports without the relevant audit engagement partners’ knowledge, Ms Nightingale’s conduct has risked severely undermining confidence in the audit profession and BDO.
The sanctions imposed in this case, including a 20 year recommended period of exclusion from the ICAEW and a condition that she does not undertake accountancy work also for 20 years, serve both to protect the public and underscore the importance of professional accountants acting honestly and with integrity.
The FRC will not hesitate to take robust action to uphold trust and confidence in the quality of audit and financial reporting, which relies on an environment of transparency and accountability to enable investors, business, users of financial reports and the public to have confidence in financial statements.”
[1] Defined as: (i) acting as a “professional accountant in public practice” or a “professional accountant in business” as defined in the glossary of the ICAEW Code of Ethics (ii) the matters defined as “public practice” by the ICAEW ‘Definition of public practice’ guidance; (iii) being involved in preparing or signing financial statements, save as they relate solely to her personal financial affairs; (iv) performing any financial roles in the operation of a business, including but not limited to: Chief Financial Officer, Finance Director, Group Finance Director, Financial Controller, Finance Manager, Divisional Director of Finance or (v) holding herself out as a member of the ICAEW, or as a person capable of carrying out the above-listed accountancy work.
[2] The Proposed Formal Complaint is a draft of the Formal Complaint which Executive Counsel proposes to send to the Conduct Committee. The relevant firm or individual is invited to make representations on the Proposed Formal Complaint and Executive Counsel will consider any such representations before determining whether the relevant threshold tests are met for delivery of a Formal Complaint to the Conduct Committee. It is delivery of the Formal Complaint which triggers the process for appointing a Disciplinary Tribunal to hear the Formal Complaint (see paragraphs 7(10), 7(11) and 9(1) of the Accountancy Scheme).
Footnotes
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[1]
Defined as: (i) acting as a “professional accountant in public practice” or a “professional accountant in business” as defined in the glossary of the ICAEW Code of Ethics (ii) the matters defined as “public practice” by the ICAEW ‘Definition of public practice’ guidance; (iii) being involved in preparing or signing financial statements, save as they relate solely to her personal financial affairs; (iv) performing any financial roles in the operation of a business, including but not limited to: Chief Financial Officer, Finance Director, Group Finance Director, Financial Controller, Finance Manager, Divisional Director of Finance or (v) holding herself out as a member of the ICAEW, or as a person capable of carrying out the above-listed accountancy work.
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[2]
The Proposed Formal Complaint is a draft of the Formal Complaint which Executive Counsel proposes to send to the Conduct Committee. The relevant firm or individual is invited to make representations on the Proposed Formal Complaint and Executive Counsel will consider any such representations before determining whether the relevant threshold tests are met for delivery of a Formal Complaint to the Conduct Committee. It is delivery of the Formal Complaint which triggers the process for appointing a Disciplinary Tribunal to hear the Formal Complaint (see paragraphs 7(10), 7(11) and 9(1) of the Accountancy Scheme).