Covid-19: New corporate reporting and governance measures issued by regulators.

Here in the UK, a raft of new measures have been introduced by the government to support businesses, and financial regulators hope to do the same with their own set of measures in order to ensure high-quality reporting and auditing can be assured to investors and stakeholders in a timely fashion.

As such, three major regulators in the UK have released a joint statement regarding actions to address the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The actions come from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to ensure information continues to flow to investors and support the continued functioning of the UK’s capital markets. These include:

• An FCA statement on allowing listed companies an extra 2 months to publish their audited annual financial reports.
• Guidance from the FRC on Corporate Governance and Reporting in the uncertain environment.
• Guidance from the PRA on assessing expected loss provisions for banks, building societies and investment firms.
• Guidance from the FRC on obtaining audit information amidst changes to the workplace.

The three regulators also urge users of financial statements to take into account the potential delays and uncertainties surrounding this unique situation.

The joint statement can be read here.

For bespoke, practical advise from an FRC expert, please contact will@gather.london