It has descended into predictable farce. Every time a corporate reporting clanger is dropped and auditors of a public company are mired in yet another scandal, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) responds by announcing it will investigate the accounts and audit of the plc in question. The FRC is fighting a rear-guard action. It is constantly taking pains to reform its own structures on independence and reporting, recruiting more top people. It continuously upgrades its expectations of audit firms regarding experience, skills, attributes, leadership, governance, risk management, audit quality. You name it, they are looking for it.