In Sir Bischoff’s speech, which he gave at the Financial Services Brexit summit on 11 October, he reiterated that no sudden decisions would be made post-Brexit but said: ‘We will carefully consider what is best for the sectors and professionals we regulate and right for the long term health of the stakeholders we serve.’

For the FRC to retain its reputation of being the ‘global centre of excellence for accounting and audit’, key issues will need to be addressed.

International standards that derive from the EU will need to continue to be applied and enforced by the FRC, with investors wanting comparability between UK listed companies and companies listed in other countries.

Regarding auditing standards Sir Bischoff said: ‘The UK has only recently, in June 2016, introduced new standards and rules based on the European Audit Directive. There is no mood to reverse this, the UK has a proud record for high quality in audit work, but we may tweak the standards to ensure UK based auditors continue to lead the world in quality.

‘To do this though we will need to agree arrangements for equivalence of audit qualifications and the portability of staff.’

It is likely that post-Brexit UK auditors will want to access markets outside of Europe for example, the US and China, so the FRC must ensure auditors are able to access these markets.

 Sir Bischoff also revealed plans to amend corporate governance saying: ‘We have taken some first steps in corporate governance. The government’s interest in making business work for everyone, means we are considering how our governance principles best meet the wider demands of all stakeholders or need to be amended.’

Recently, the FRC has faced uncertainty on its future and it has been debated whether it should continue in its current form post-Brexit, due to the scope of its oversight and disciplinary roles changing.

Sir Bischoff’s speech is available here.