In the week before Christmas, the final report of the Independent Review of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), led by former senior civil servant Sir John Kingman, was published.
In the week before Christmas, the final report of the Independent Review of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), led by former senior civil servant Sir John Kingman, was published. The review, which focused primarily on the FRC's activities in relation to accounting and audit, also considered questions around the arrangements for actuarial regulation in the UK.
We engaged extensively with the review, producing a formal submission (available on our website), and have read the findings with great interest. The report's central recommendation suggests that the FRC should be disbanded, and its successor should no longer have a role in relation to actuarial regulation. It suggests that the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) "is a much larger repository of regulatory actuarial expertise than the FRC and would be best placed to take on all the actuarial responsibilities currently vested in the FRC". The Review also recommends that the government (with the PRA and the Pensions Regulator) should review what powers are required to oversee regulation of the actuarial profession.
We look forward to working with government, the PRA and other stakeholders to see how Kingman's recommendations can be taken forward and to ensure an appropriate balance of UK regulation and oversight, so as to protect the public interest without stifling competition and innovation. We will continue to work tirelessly to secure a stable, proportionate regime that is capable of commanding the confidence of both the profession and the public which it serves. As soon as we know more, you, our members, will be the first to hear.
Derek Cribb is the chief executive of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries