FRC vows penalties for breach of governance codes, reporting standards

The Executive Secretary/Chief Executive, Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria, Dr Rabiu Olowo, has said the council will hold any accounting professional or company accountable for the violation of its governance codes.

Speaking after a meeting with the visiting Chief Executive, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Ms. Helen Brand, Olowo said the council would also strengthen its enforcement mechanisms to ensure that everyone was held accountable for their actions or inaction that contravenes the FRC laws.

Both parties also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen their commitment to working together.

Olowo said, “So, one of the things we could do is to make sure that we do not allow any professional who goes against the core conduct that is expected in the profession to practice.

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“If you look at FRC and what the ACCA stands for, we are not just about promoting the works of accountants; we want to make sure we promote and oversight credible work that would lead to credible financial reporting. It’s the kind of alignment that we share as FRC and the ACCA.

“We want to make sure that we hold to account, accountants, auditors or anyone who is a professional within the financial reporting framework to make sure that they do the right thing and we would hold them accountable to doing the right thing.”

The FRC boss said the council could restrict any professional going against the core conduct that is expected in the profession from practising.

He said, “ACCA has been a long-term supporter of the FRC, especially in the areas of technical assistance, exchange of ideas and insights with everything that has to do with the profession.

“We see them as a credible partner to discuss issues around financial reporting, corporate governance, and even more specific issues of the future such as sustainability reporting and everything that has to do with areas of our core mandate.”

The ACCA chief executive added that she was in the country to reinforce the long-term collaboration that the association has had with FRC over the years, adding that the “work never ends”.

She said the accounting profession, like any other profession, has to respond to the emerging global circumstances, particularly the issue of sustainability reporting and practice.

She pointed out that ACCA remained one of the first bodies to commit to capacity-building partners following last year’s release of the first two sustainability standards by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).