FRC CEO Richard Moriarty on cutting red tape, calling time on “dumb” compliance checklists and futureproofing the accounting watchdog without the legislative powers he was promised
2026-01-13
Today’s guest is leading the UK’s audit regulator through reform without the legislative powers originally promised. Two years into the job, he argues the Financial Reporting Council is acting anyway, using proportionate, common-sense regulation to support growth and investment.He sets out a pragmatic agenda for keeping UK audit credible and relevant, covering everything from market concentration and SME audits to AI and the future talent pipeline.
He explains why the watchdog has stripped back governance and stewardship codes, warning that over-prescription has driven box-ticking and weakened board accountability. He defends comply-or-explain as a strength of the UK system and urges companies to be braver in using it.
And he renews his call for political action to back his reform agenda in peacetime, before the next corporate failure forces Parliament’s hand.
Richard Moriarty is Chief Executive of the FRC, the UK regulator responsible for audit, corporate reporting and governance.
Following the Rules
Lucy McNulty- No. of episodes
- 100
- Latest episode
- 2026-10-19
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An insider’s guide to the laws dictating life within UK and EU financial services, the people influencing their development and policing finance workers’ compliance