Last Christmas gave the audit profession a report by Sir John
Kingman which recommended the creation of a new regulatory body,
the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority ("ARGA").
This year, the Christmas season has been marked by the publication
on 18 December of Sir Donald Brydon's report, a month or so
earlier than expected and, significantly, a day ahead of the
Queen's Speech at the opening of Parliament.
The Queen's Speech contained reference to Government
intentions to introduce legislation to "develop proposals
on company audit and corporate reporting, including a stronger
regulator with all the powers necessary to reform the
sector". These proposals are likely to be informed not
only by the Brydon and Kingman reports, but also the CMA's
report on the Statutory Audit Market and the House of Commons BEIS
Committee report on the Future of Audit, both of which were
published in April 2019.
