On 16th April, 2002, the authors gave oral evidence to the House of Commons Treasury Committee Inquiry into Financial Regulation of Public Limited Companies which was set up following the collapse of Enron. This paper is adapted from the written submission to the Committee on which their oral...

The principles-based U.K. regulatory framework for auditor independence (Chartered Accountants Joint Ethics Committee 1996), which was adopted in 1997, identifies threats to independence in fact, independence in appearance, and the safeguards that control these threats. These principles are...

The central research question addressed in this paper is‘How do companies and their auditors resolve important audit issues?’ In-depth interviews are conducted with the audit partners and finance directors of a varied group of six major UK listed companies who had recently experienced audit...

The article brings out several elements of auditing and the interaction of auditors with concerned persons. According to the author, auditing is fundamentally about individuals and how they interact with each other. The integrity of the audit process in listed companies is critically dependent...

The UK Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP) enforces the regulatory framework for larger companies and requires companies to restate non-compliant accounts. It is authorized to deal with directors but not auditors. Recent UK based research indicates a belief that the FRRP's activities have...

The Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP) was an innovation in the UK as it was responsible for the previously little considered issue of ensuring compliance with financial reporting regulations. This paper draws on institutional theory to compare the stated aims, objectives and operating...

While concentration measures are a good indicator of market structure, the link with competitiveness is more complex than often assumed. In particular, the modern theory of industrial organisation makes no clear statement regarding the impact of concentration on competition - the focus of this...

Purpose - The paper aims to trace the development of attitudes towards financial reporting solutions for entities not subject to the European Union (EU) Regulation. This Regulation mandated application of IFRS for the group accounts of listed companies for financial years beginning 1 January...

This article examines the prospects for the International Accounting Standards (IAS) based on a discussion held by U.S. and British academics in August 2001. Participants recognized several key challenges to widespread implementation of IAS. These include the need to improve the quality of...