Sanctions against Nicholas Bowerman for failure to co-operate with an investigation by the Financial Reporting Council
News types: Tribunals
Published: 16 January 2026
This notice concerns the findings of an independent Disciplinary Tribunal. The Tribunal’s findings relate only to the person who, as a Member of the Accountancy Scheme, was the subject of the proceedings and it would not be fair to treat any part of this document as constituting or evidencing findings against any other persons or entities.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) today announces adverse findings and sanctions against Nicholas Bowerman, following a hearing by an independent Disciplinary Tribunal.
At a hearing in May 2025, the Tribunal heard two allegations that Mr Bowerman breached his duty to co-operate with an investigation by Executive Counsel to the FRC, by failing to respond to a number of communications and failing to comply with a notice requiring him to arrange to attend an interview. The underlying investigation concerned serious allegations of misconduct against Mr Bowerman, relating to his role as Finance Director of a UK private company.
The Tribunal found both allegations of failure to co-operate proved, noting that:
‘Our view of the nature of the Respondent’s breaches … (being deliberate, prolonged and without excuse) is that they are not mere misdemeanours but are themselves intrinsically serious failings.’
At a resumed hearing in July 2025, the Tribunal imposed the sanction of Exclusion as a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), for a recommended period of 5 years[1] .
In determining the sanction, the Tribunal noted that the obligation to co-operate was ‘important and irreducible’ and Mr Bowerman’s breaches of them were ‘very serious’. The Tribunal said that Mr Bowerman’s ‘disregard of the clear obligations incumbent upon him … to cooperate could … damage the reputation of the accountancy profession and undermine public confidence in the effectiveness of the regulatory framework and the ethical standards…’.
The Tribunal also ordered the Respondent to pay the costs of Executive Counsel and the Tribunal, in the sum of £70,207.
In light of the sanction of Exclusion and the fact that Mr Bowerman was at that time the subject of legal proceedings by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the USA in respect of the underlying allegations of misconduct[2] , Executive Counsel decided that it was no longer in the public interest to continue with the FRC investigation of those allegations. Accordingly, the investigation was closed with no further disciplinary action.
Footnotes
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[1]
The recommended period is the period within which the FRC recommends that the CIMA should not re-admit Mr Bowerman to membership, if he were to apply. Outside this period, he would still need to make an application, and re-admission would be at the discretion of the CIMA. The findings of the Tribunal in this case would be a relevant consideration for the CIMA to take into account.
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[2]
Those legal proceedings concluded on 23 December 2025 when the US District Court awarded judgment in favour of the Securities and Exchange Commission against Mr Bowerman.