John Shannon, former CEO of the outsourced fire and rescue services and equipment provider, together with former chief financial officer Raymond Flynn, and Matthew Boyle, former financial controller, will attend a hearing on 15 January into a formal complaint concerning their conduct. 

The formal complaint contains multiple allegations against each of the men, including allegations they acted dishonestly or recklessly; that they breached the fundamental principles of integrity and objectivity in the manner in which they prepared the financial statements; and that their conduct fell significantly short of the standards reasonably to be expected of members of CAI.

The FRC says the complaint ‘covers a wide range of issues which pervaded AssetCo plc’s financial statements’.

The regulator has already fined Grant Thornton UK £2.275m and given retired partner Robert Napper a three-year ban and a £130,000 fine after its earlier investigation identified a range of ‘widespread and significant’ failings in work on the audits of AssetCo plc for the years ended 31 March 2009 and 31 March 2010.

Grant Thornton, the statutory audit firm, and Napper, the audit engagement partner, faced a total of 12 allegations concerning a range of matters. These included disclosures in respect of related party transactions and restricted cash; the existence of significant amounts of finance lease debtors and related revenue, and measurement of substantial assets including investments in subsidiaries, goodwill and other intangible assets; the assessment of the going concern assumption in the financial statements; and failures to apply sufficient professional scepticism.

Report by Pat Sweet