About

This Register contains information on Statutory Auditors and Audit Firms in the UK

• A Statutory Auditor is a person approved to carry out the audit of annual accounts or consolidated accounts.
• An Audit Firm is a firm that is approved to carry out Statutory Audits.

What information can I find on this Register?

• Recognised Supervisory Bodies (RSB) - shows contact details for all RSBs and details of firms registered by them
• Firm - shows details of RSB audit registered firms, which RSB registers them and individuals linked to them
• Location - shows the full address of the firm, the RSBs and the individuals registered at each location
• Individuals – shows a list of individuals connected to the firm who hold the following roles:
  • Statutory Auditor
  • Director (of firms constituted as a limited company)
  • Owner
  • Management board member
• ‘Owners’ of a firm can include the following (depending on the constitution of the firm):
  • Shareholders
  • LLP members
  • Partners
  • Persons ‘held out’ as members or partners

How are audit firms and statutory auditors regulated in the UK

Under the Companies Act 2006 and the Statutory Audit and Third Country Regulations 2016 the responsibility for all matters relating to audit regulation is reserved to a 'Competent Authority' which is the Financial Reporting Council (FRC).
The legislation allows the Competent Authority to delegate audit regulation functions to other bodies recognised in law. These bodies include the RSBs. The RSBs are:

• The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland
• Chartered Accountants Ireland
• The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
• The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

The Competent Authority has overall responsibility for performing and overseeing all audit regulation tasks and has been conferred the power to delegate certain of those tasks to the RSBs. As well as responsibility for oversight, the Competent Authority is responsible for the registration arrangements, monitoring, investigation or sanctioning of audit work where this relates to the audits of public interest entities (PIEs). Such functions are the direct responsibility of the Competent Authority and are dealt with under its procedures. Firms registered by one of the RSBs agree to be bound both by its regulations and by the rules and procedures of the Competent Authority and place themselves within the jurisdiction of its enforcement procedure.

The regulatory system of RSBs involves:

• registration processes;
• monitoring;
• enforcement and discipline

The RSBs are also subject to independent oversight. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has statutory powers delegated to it by Government for the recognition, supervision and de-recognition of the RSBs. The FRC conducts regular oversight visits to the RSBs to ensure that their responsibilities are being discharged appropriately. The FRC also has the power to sanction RSBs.

In addition to the quality assurance and monitoring undertaken by the RSBs, the Audit Quality Review (AQR) team of the FRC has the responsibility for the monitoring of the audits of all listed and other major public entities. The scope of the AQR’s inspection activities is available on the AQR section of the FRC website.

The FRC operates an independent disciplinary scheme for accountants and accountancy in the UK and can also take action under its audit enforcement procedure. The FRC deals with cases of potential misconduct which raise or appear to raise important issues affecting the public interest in the UK. All other cases of potential misconduct continue to be dealt with by the professional bodies above.

The FRC Conduct Committee has oversight over the operation of the disciplinary arrangements. A majority of its members are not practising accountants, auditors?and/or actuaries. The Conduct Committee’s responsibilities can be found in its Terms of Reference.

Register of Third Country Audit Entities

The FRC register contains details of third country audit firms registered with the FRC in accordance with the UK requirements that give effect to provisions in the Statutory Audit Directive ("the Directive" - 2006/43/EC). Third country audit firms are defined in Article 2(4) of the Directive and in Sections 1242 and 1261 of the Companies Act 2006. The third country audit register can be found here.