The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the UK’s independent regulator responsible for promoting confidence in corporate reporting and governance. Its functions are exercised principally by its operating bodies (the Accounting Standards Board, the Auditing Practices Board, the Board for Actuarial Standards, the Financial Reporting Review Panel, the Professional Oversight Board and the Accountancy Investigation and Discipline Board) and by the Council. The Committee on Corporate Governance, whose members are drawn from the Council, assists it in its work on corporate governance.

The Accountancy Investigation and Discipline Board ("AIDB") is the independent, investigative and disciplinary body for accountants in the UK. The AIDB is responsible for operating and administering an independent disciplinary scheme ("the Scheme") covering members of the following accountants' professional bodies:- the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

The focus of the AIDB is on cases which raise important issues affecting the public interest; other disciplinary cases will continue to be dealt with by the individual accountancy body of the member concerned.

Disciplinary Complaints filed following an AIDB investigation are heard by an independent Tribunal which will normally sit in public. If the Tribunal upholds a Complaint, there is a wide range of sanctions which it can impose including an unlimited fine, exclusion from membership of a professional body and withdrawal of practising certificates or licenses.

All Press enquires should be directed to: Anna Colban on telephone: 020 7492 2451 or email: a.colban@frc.org.uk.