On 26 February the UK Government announced that it had completed the final £5 billion sale of Bradford & Bingley plc and NRAM Limited (formerly Northern Rock) and their remaining loans, acquired by the taxpayer as a result of the financial crisis.

Recent regulatory failures (for example the mis-selling of mini-bonds peddled by London & Capital Finance and the failure to protect pensioners being pressured by ‘advice’ on pension transfers from commissioned agents) have forced a welcome review of current practice. UKSA is responding to make sure the interests of ordinary savers and investors are properly safeguarded.

In October 2020 the FRC issued a discussion paper on the Future of Corporate Reporting. The paper focuses primarily on the annual report but includes other periodic reporting and raises fundamental questions about its 'fitness for purpose' in today's world. Further 'tweaks', the FRC concludes, are unlikely to address valid concerns. The time has come for radical reform.

The UK Treasury has recently been reviewing the UK Listing rules. The Coronavirus pandemic and Brexit helped to fuel a sell-off in London listed stocks in the twelve months to January 2021. The FTSE 100, for example, fell more than 14% last year, making it the worst performing of the large international stock indices. However, the London market was arguably already in need of an overhaul. UK equity markets have been shrinking faster than other European exchanges, with the number of listed companies here falling by 20% since 2012.

On Friday 29 January UKSA and ShareSoc responded to the FRC’s consultation on the proposed revisions to the UK audit standard on an auditor’s responsibilities relating to fraud. The full text of the consultation document can be found here and our response document can be found here.