Big Four firms should face fines of £10m or more for poor quality audit work, while individual accountants guilty of dishonesty could be given 10-year bans, according to an independent review of the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) enforcement sanctions, which also calls for a greater focus on non-financial penalties

In part two of our three-part internal audit series, Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors chief executive Dr Ian Peters examines what businesses can and should expect from their internal audit function

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has issued a revision of Practice Note 11: The audit of charities in the UK, which extends guidance in problems areas including risks of material misstatement, and streamlines other areas to ensure compliance with existing auditing standards

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has announced a further investigation into FTSE 250 outsourcing supplier Mitie Group, in relation to the preparation and approval of the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2016, following on from its probe into Deloitte’s audit of the company, which has issued a string of profit warnings

FTSE 100 international banking group Standard Chartered has chosen EY to take over from KPMG as its auditor from the year ending 31 December 2020, ending a relationship of over 40 years in response to new requirements to ensure auditor rotation

The Monitoring Group is consulting on a major overhaul of the global audit standard setting process to enhance governance, accountability and oversight which could see a change to the role of IFAC and creation of a single audit and ethical standards setting body to replace the current split structure

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has issued a revision of Practice Note 15: the audit of occupational pension schemes in the UK, to reflect a number of developments in this area including changes to UK accounting standards and the revision of the pension statement of recommended practice (SORP)

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published three thematic reports, covering judgements and estimates, pension disclosures and the use of alternative performance measures (APMs), in order to help companies improve the quality of their corporate reporting in acknowledged areas of difficulty

FTSE 250 engineering company Meggitt has decided to retain PwC as its auditor, a position the firm has held since 2003, following a competitive tender process which was conducted in advance of the mandatory rotation requirement

A spate of multimillion pound fines for misconduct at audit firms following dubious audits at listed companies has put the audit regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), under greater pressure, but is it fulfilling its role and displaying real powers, ask partner Hannah Laming and associate Nicholas Querée of law firm Peters & Peters 

The US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has entered into a cooperative agreement with the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA) which allows for joint inspections in the oversight of audit firms subject to the regulatory jurisdiction of both organisations, reflecting growing levels of US companies setting up in Ireland

The Nationwide Building Society has chosen EY as its new auditors, replacing PwC, following a competitive tender process