The announcement came in a speech given by FRC chair Sir Win Bischoff at the annual open meeting. He said next year will see the conclusion of the regulator’s review of its own governance structure and processes ‘to ensure our decision making is robust and appropriate to our public interest responsibilities.’

‘One aspect of this review has been the preparation of a register of interests for all members of our board, committees and councils. That register will be published in October on our new website.

‘Such a register is important for the FRC to retain confidence in how it reaches decisions, particularly on enforcement matters. The decision announced earlier this week to end the investigation into KPMG’s audit of HBOS has been questioned by media and politicians, and it has attracted questions about our independence.

It is vital that these decisions are taken based on the available evidence rather than on political considerations or public clamour. Our robust policies and procedures on conflicts of interest ensure those decisions are appropriately made by the executive counsel.

‘Many of you, but not all commentators, know that the board of the FRC has no role in taking enforcement decisions. Publishing our policy and our register of interests should further remove doubt about the objectivity of our decisions,’ Bischoff said.

In his speech to the meeting FRC CEO Stephen Haddrill discussed the regulator’s revised mission statement of its key values, and said its consultation on revisions to the corporate governance code will go public in November.

‘Now more than ever, we must take into account broader public expectations. The FRC’s new stakeholder panel is helping us achieve this, and it’s been an important development for us this year. We will be exploring how companies can better reflect and report on how they are taking into account their own wider stakeholder needs,’ Haddrill said.

Haddrill said next month the FRC will be publishing ‘a full report drawn from all of our experience in relation to corporate reporting and audit, in relation in particular to the banks and financial services sector. Since the financial crisis we have worked hard to address the problems we saw at that time. We will report on those changes that have been made, where we are now and crucially what further improvement is called for.’

Both Haddrill and Bischoff cited the need for companies to pay closer attention to diversity issues and to consider the links between diversity and business success.

Haddrill said: ‘Whether diversity of gender, ethnicity or background, it’s vital that businesses draw experience widely from the society in which they operate. Diversity helps to drive the ongoing success of a company, and avoid group think. This is one area we will be exploring as part of our code review.’

Speech by Sir Win Bischoff - FRC annual open meeting is here.

Speech by Stephen Haddrill, FRC annual open meeting is here.

Report by Pat Sweet