Root and branch reform of the UK’s audit and corporate governance regime is widely recognised as being long overdue. Such reform did come a step closer, after the government’s plans for audit and corporate governance reform appeared in the 2022 Queen’s Speech.

The drive for reform was prompted by a series of scandals, where inappropriate audits were seen as being linked to major corporate collapses, notably KPMG with Carillion and Deloitte with Autonomy.