The head of business tax at HMRC, Jim Harra, has been promoted to tax assurance commissioner filling the vacant role created by Edward Troup’s move to executive chair

Chairman of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), Sir Winfried Bischoff, has revealed the challenges that legislators and regulators face post-Brexit, as well as disclosing what the FRC’s plans are for audit and accounting standards going forward, despite scepticism on the future of the FRC

The burden of regulation to UK businesses remains high as most Whitehall departments are unaware of the cost impact of existing regulations, making it difficult for government to reduce costs by the £10bn set out in its business impact target

Chancellor, Philip Hammond, is making the National Infrastructure Committee (NIC) a permanent body from January 2017, which will provide government with advice on investments and infrastructure priorities

Jon Thompson, HMRC chief executive, has been asked to appear before the Treasury select committee as part of an inquiry into the decision not to renew an outsourcing contract with Concentrix contract for checking tax credits, following widespread criticism of the company’s performance

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has levied penalties on Sonali Bank (UK) Ltd (SBUK) and its former money laundering reporting officer for serious anti-money laundering (AML) systems failings, with the bank required to pay a £3.25m fine and prevented from accepting deposits from new customers for 168 days

CogitalGroup, which was founded this summer by ex-Deloitte UK chief executive John Connolly and is backed by private equity group HgCapital, has announced a further acquisition with an investment in Baldwins as part of its move to create a new international firm in the advisory services market

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed 868 enforcement actions exposing financial reporting-related misconduct and accounting abuse in fiscal year 2016, an all-time high for the US regulator

The National Audit Office (NAO) has questioned the viability and taxpayer risk following an investigation into the Department for Transport’s £30m grant towards the development of the Garden Bridge, the proposed plan for a new pedestrian bridge over the Thames, following an internal audit of the Garden Bridge Trust

A surge in rejections of company accounts prepared under the new UK GAAP rules, identified by ICAEW, has been refuted by Companies House, which reports that only 2.5% of accounts have been returned, despite hitting the peak reporting period

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has issued guidance for listed companies highlighting key issues to focus on when preparing annual reports from revenue recognition reporting to performance measures and business model reporting

HR departments are increasingly having to deal with inquiries about tax issues from employees as new pension rules increase the complexity of retirement planning, research from employee benefits consultancy Portus shows