Following reform of the Financial Reporting Council in July 2012, the FRC has announced membership of the Actuarial, Audit and Assurance and Accounting Councils, advisory bodies to the FRC Board and its Committees.

Roger Marshall chairs the Accounting Council, Olivia Dickson chairs the Actuarial Council and Nick Land chairs the Audit and Assurance Council. As members of the FRC Board, they will ensure that the Council's advice is fully explained at that level.

Marshall spent much of his career at PwC, where he was an audit partner in London and Zurich, and led the audits of a number of FTSE and other large multinational audits. He left PwC in 2009 and now serves on several boards and committees including Old Mutual plc where he is chair of the Audit Committee.

The Councils will provide the FRC with both technical knowledge and a wide understanding of the key issues facing the profession.

Commenting on these appointments, chairman of the FRC, Baroness Hogg said: 'In establishing the Councils the FRC has made important appointments that will command respect for the quality, range and objectivity of their input. Each Council will make a strong contribution to our input to EU and international, as well as domestic policy-making.'

The Accounting Council which replaces the Accounting Standards Board, and reports into the Codes and Standards Committee, is responsible for advising the FRC Board on draft codes and standards (or amendments) to ensure that a high quality, effective and proportionate approach is taken; and considering and recommending proposed developments in relation to international codes and standards and regulations.

One of the Accounting Council's first priorities will be to publish the framework for the revised UK GAAP standards, which are to be replaced by FRS 102 by 2015. It is understood that initial proposals will be published by late September, with detailed standards available by the end of the year.

The proposed effective date for the new accounting standards is accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2015, so for entities with 12-month accounting periods, the first to apply the new framework would be those with 31 December 2015 year ends. Early adoption is permitted.

The Council has up to twelve members, at least half of which are practising members of the relevant profession and the remainder will be other stakeholders. Members of the Councils are appointed through an open process overseen by the Chair of the Codes and Standards Committee (CSC) subject to the overall guidance of the Nominations Committee of the FRC.