FSA will end audit requirements for small firms

The FSA told IFAonline in March it was planning to extend the audit rule waiver for mortgage and general insurance intermediaries to other small firms to help reduce the regulatory burden. The news followed a speech made by FSA chairman Callum McCarthy in July 2005 during which he stated the FSA was talking to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to get small financial services firms exempted from the requirement to have their accounts audited, as legislated under the Companies Act 1985. The FSA issued a consultation paper proposing to remove the audit requirements in April, which receive...