Following the Morris Review, the FRC is set to commence a new regime of oversight of the Actuarial Profession from 1st April 2006.

An essential part of the new regime is the creation of a new operating body of the FRC – the Board for Actuarial Standards (BAS) – to set high quality actuarial standards independently of the profession or other interests.

The governance structure of the FRC itself has been appropriately modified to create the new Board, and the appointment of its members is now complete. Their first meeting will be on 20/21 April 2006.

Brief details on the members of BAS are attached. Commenting on the appointments, Paul Seymour, Chair of the BAS, said:

“When I took this job last December, one of my top priorities was to get together a strong and balanced Board. I am delighted with the strength of the response we received, and the team we have been able to assemble. We have very strong representation of all major stakeholders, with a wide intellectual input. I look forward to our first meeting, where we will develop a broad work programme, and consider the detail of our terms of reference.”

Comment from Sir Christopher Hogg:

“We are delighted with the progress made in the last few months and look forward to working with Paul and his colleagues on the BAS. The FRC takes up these new responsibilities at a very challenging time but I am confident that they will fit well and productively with the rest of our remit for governance and financial reporting.”

1. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the UK’s independent regulator for corporate reporting and governance. Its aim is to promote confidence in corporate reporting and governance.
2. The Board For Actuarial Standards is a constituent body of the Financial Reporting Council and has a primary objective of promoting competence and transparency of the actuarial Profession by establishing and improving actuarial technical standards and ensuring that they are coherent, consistent and comprehensive.
3. The Board For Actuarial Standards was created as a result of the Morris Review of the Actuarial Profession, published in March 2005. This review recommended that the FRC should take on two new functions: setting actuarial standards and overseeing the regulation of the actuarial profession. The FRC is also extending the remit of the Professional Oversight Board for Accountancy to oversee the regulation of the actuarial profession; and is extending the remit of the Accountancy Investigation and Discipline Board to cover public interest cases involving actuaries.
4. The Morris Review is available on HM Treasury’s website at:
   www.hm-Treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/morris_review.
5. All Press enquiries should be directed to: Paul Seymour. Tel: 020 7492 2388. E-mail: p.seymour@frc.org.uk