Financial & Tax Planning - A Briefing on Topical Issues

The ICAEW introduced a new resolution route for lower-level audit conduct matters on 1 October 2026. We explain how it works, what it means for auditors and audit firms and how it fits into the broader...

This edition includes news on the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in the United Kingdom lobbying the UK Government to allow RICS to regulate estate agents under the new EU Directive (5 September); American proposals to reduce currency transactions reporting requirement for seasoned business customers (16 September); and the approval of regulatory standards for Hawala money transfers between 14 Arab states (28 September).

A delegated regulation relating to the EUPR has been published in the Official Journal and entered into force on 16 August 2026. It was expected to apply from 5 June 2026, alongside the EU Listing Act amendments to the EUPR, but was delayed. The delegated regulation introduces a significantly simplified and more standardised prospectus regime, including streamlined disclosure requirements, a new EU IPO prospectus for first-time listings and mandatory standard formats for single-document equity prospectuses

The Department of Health and the Government Actuary’s Department have published an actuarial valuation of the NHS Pension Scheme which has an effective date of 31 March 2012.

Legal spend management is a critical issue for law firms. In today's competitive legal industry, a legal practice that cannot keep a handle on its business expenses will not be able to survive, much less thrive

Accountants' traditional margins are under huge threat due to compliance, the core business of accountants, becoming increasingly commoditized by new entrants to the market...

The Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has stated that recent high-profile corporate failures and accounting scandals have raised investors'

On 17 June 2026, the Financial Reporting Council (“FRC”) published its updated Audit Enforcement Procedure ("AEP"), effective from 1 July 2026.

Earlier this week the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade published the long awaited Modernising Corporate Reporting consultation, seeking views on how the corporate reporting framework in the UK could be modernised to better meet the needs of companies, investors and the wider economy.

The first blog in this series explored the revised professional behaviour framework introduced by the ICAEW and ICAS Codes of Ethics and considered the distinction between professional and personal life.