Operational Policies

Published: 25 September 2023

6 minute read

Board Diversity Policy

Our Board Diversity Policy is approved by the Board annually.

Policy
Name Board Diversity Policy (September 2023)
Publication date 21 September 2023
Type Policy
Format PDF, 80.0 KB

Anti-bribery Policy

Approach to Impact Assessment

Our regulatory principles, published in our updated Regulatory Strategy, commit us to:

Target the use of our powers, taking a proactive, risk-based and proportionate approach, making effective use of Impact Assessments (IAs) and having regard to the impact of regulation on small enterprises.

The FRC follows three guiding principles in producing impact assessments:

  • The work that goes into the production of an impact assessment should be proportionate to the importance of the proposal that it covers.
  • Where a standard is being introduced as a direct response to legislation or regulation, or as part of an agreed policy commitment to adopt international standards of accounting or auditing, the impact assessment should explain the rationale for introducing the standard and should focus on any aspects of the proposed standard which augment the relevant legislation or augment or diverge from the relevant international standard.
  • Where appropriate, we are particularly alert to the impact of proposals on small businesses.

Our projects and activities fall into the following categories, and there are differences between the categories as to what is likely to constitute an appropriate impact assessments:

  • Influencing EU, international and UK Government proposals. We will encourage those bodies to prepare impact assessment, and we will contribute to those impact assessments.
  • Implementing EU, international or UK Government proposals. We will prepare an “implementation” impact assessment addressing the scope and timing of implementation and any elements which augment or diverge from the proposal which is being implemented (eg in relation to the implementation of IFRS).
  • Leading the UK debate on the response to an emerging risk/market development. We will consider the rationale for regulation and alternatives to regulation, the first step in the preparation of an initial impact assessment.
  • Implementing FRC new regulatory requirements. We will prepare an impact assessments based on the Better Regulation Executive guidelines.
  • Proposals to provide or update guidance on existing requirements (eg in updating guidance notes). We will produce an impact assessment based on an appropriate simplified approach.
  • Proposals relating to monitoring, enforcement and discipline. For policy proposals, we will prepare an impact assessment. For individual cases, action will be demonstrably risk-based (eg in relation to priority sectors identified by the FRRP or priority areas for inspection identified by the AIU).
  • Proposals which do not impose regulatory requirements. We will not produce an impact assessment.

FRC project owners will apply appropriate judgement in each case to ensure that the necessary elements are included.

Consultation Responses Policy

Data Protection Policy

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) collects and processes certain types of personal information as a necessary part of carrying out its responsibilities and administering its operations. Such information is subject to the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.

The FRC collects, handles and uses personal information in accordance with the seven Principles of data protection set out in the Act. It maintains technical and other security arrangements to safeguard personal information. Our website contains a statement on how we deal with personal data collected through the site.

Such personal data is subject to certain rights of access by the individuals to whom it relates. Those rights of access entitle them to:

  • know what the information is
  • be informed for what purposes the information is being processed and to whom it may have been disclosed
  • the opportunity for incorrect information to be amended or erased.

For further information, please see our  Individual Rights (Data Privacy) Policy.

Any such requests in respect of personal information held by the FRC should be addressed to [email protected] or in writing, to:

The Privacy Team
Financial Reporting Council
8th Floor, 125 London Wall
London
EC2Y 5AS

and should include details of the context in which you believe the FRC is holding the information you seek. This will help us identify it and respond to requests as quickly as possible.

The Data Protection Act includes exemptions from the right of access. The FRC will take these into account in considering requests and this may result in withholding all or part of the information requested.

The FRC may charge for a reasonable fee for the administrative costs of complying with a request if it is manifestly unfounded or excessive, or if an individual requests further copies of their data.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is an independent, unified regulator that:

  • sets, monitors and enforces accounting and auditing standards;
  • oversees the regulatory activities of the professional accountancy bodies, and regulates audit; and
  • promotes high standards of corporate governance.

The terms on which you are entitled to access the FRC Website are set out below. Your access to the site or any part thereof will be deemed to constitute acceptance of these terms. These terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law.

From time to time the FRC may modify these terms. You should therefore review these terms whenever accessing or using this site. The FRC may at any time alter the contents of the pages on the Website.

You must be satisfied that you may lawfully access this site. The FRC accepts no responsibility for unauthorised access or actions of the reader in respect of these matters.

Liability

The information contained on this site is for general guidance only. You should neither act, nor refrain from action, on the basis of any such information. You should take appropriate professional advice on your particular circumstances because the application of laws and regulations will vary depending on particular circumstances and because laws and regulations undergo frequent change.

Whilst the FRC endeavours to ensure that the information on this site is correct, the FRC makes no representations or warranties, express or implied, about the information provided through this Website (including any hypertext links), its accuracy or timeliness. The FRC shall not be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business or loss of profits) arising directly or indirectly in contract, tort or otherwise from the use of or inability to use this site (or any hypertext links), or any information contained in it (or any hypertext links), or from any action or decision taken as a result of using this site or any such information.

Part of this site may contain material submitted to the FRC by third parties. Third parties are responsible for ensuring that material submitted for inclusion on this site complies with international and national law. The FRC will not be responsible for any error, omission or inaccuracy in the material and reserves the right to omit, suspend or change the position of any material submitted.

The FRC does not warrant that the site is compatible with your computer equipment or that the site is free of errors, viruses, worms or Trojan horses. The FRC shall not be liable for any damage you may suffer as a result of such destructive features.

The FRC accepts no responsibility for the content on any site to which a hypertext link from this site exists or for any loss or penalty which may be incurred as a result of any linking to any location through a linked site. The links are provided for information only and on an "as is" basis with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them or the accuracy or source or right to access or use any information found at any other site accessed by means of this Website.

Unless otherwise stated, the copyright and other intellectual property rights in all material on this site, including trade marks, logos, photographs and graphical images, are owned by the FRC. All moral rights and equivalent rights in the contents of this Website are hereby asserted.

You are permitted to print and download extracts from this site on the following basis:

  • use of documents and related graphics on this site is for information and non-commercial or personal use within your organisation only;
  • any copies of these pages printed or saved to disk or to any other storage medium may only be used for subsequent viewing purposes or to print extracts for personal use;
  • no further copies, modifications, use or distribution of the material shall be made without the FRC's prior written permission;
  • no documents or related graphics on this site are modified in any way;
  • no graphics on this site are used separately from accompanying text; and
  • all copies, however stored or reproduced, shall retain all copyright and other proprietary notices and this permission notice and disclaimer.

No part of this site may be reproduced or stored in any other Website or included in any public or private electronic retrieval system or service without the FRC's prior written permission. Copyright requests should made via our Contact Us page.

Any rights not expressly granted in these terms are reserved.

Service access

Whilst the FRC endeavours to ensure that this site is normally available 24 hours a day, the FRC will not be liable if for any reason the site is unavailable at any time or for any period.

Access to this site may be suspended temporarily and without notice in circumstances of system failure, maintenance or repair or for reasons beyond the control of the FRC.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless each of the FRC, its employees, representatives and agents, against any claim, suit, action, or other proceeding brought against the FRC, its employees, representatives or agents, by a third party, to the extent that such a claim, suit, action or other proceeding brought against the FRC, its employees, representatives or agents is based on or arises in connection with (i) your use of, including any downloading from or uploading to, the site; (ii) any breach by you of these terms; (iii) a claim that any use of the site by you (aa) infringes any intellectual property rights of any third party, or any right of personality or publicity, or (bb) is libellous or defamatory, or otherwise results in injury or damage to any third party; (iv) any deletions, additions, insertions, or alterations to, or any unauthorised use of, the site by you; or (v) any misrepresentation or breach of representation or warranty made by you contained herein.

References in this section of these terms to your use of this site shall be deemed to include any use by a third party where such a third party accesses the site using your computer. You agree to pay the FRC, its employees, representatives and agents any and all costs, damages and expenses, including, but not limited to, reasonable professional fees (on a solicitor-client basis) awarded against any of them or otherwise incurred by any of them in connection with or arising from any such third-party claim, suit, action or proceeding attributable to any such third-party claim.

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