We at Zenith Audit have welcomed the opportunity to be able to provide our input in response to the consultation paper – Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance, which was presented to Parliament in March 2021. Audit is a profession, which is at the heart of our corporate and business activities, instilling integrity, fairness and transparency. As our world is evolving as a result of technological advances, innovation and shifting business practices, we believe that the audit function will need to develop to address such challenges. Our vision is that audit be fully independent and objective and at the same time emerge to become more pragmatic, encouraging a deeper collaboration and dialog with investors and business stakeholders.

Further commentary and our responses are provided in the attached file. We look forward to your feedback and further discussions.

For over two decades the UK Corporate Governance Code (‘the Code’) has set the expectations and provided guidelines for corporate governance for UK listed companies. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) listing rules require companies to state clearly in their annual reports how the Principles of the Code have been applied.  The listing rules allow companies to explain any apparent deviations from the Principles in their annual reports so interested parties can evaluate the application of the Principles.  This ‘comply or explain’ basis allows companies flexibility in organising and administering their governance frameworks, ostensibly making them more fit for purpose by aligning them with their organisation’s particular circumstance.