Following accounting irregularities at companies such as Carillion, Patisserie Valerie and BHS, the UK government ordered a review of the current supervisory environment by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC).
[1] The review recommended the urgent introduction of a new regulator, the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority, which should be accountable to Parliament, with the intention to provide more effective oversight and address a concentration in the industry - the Big Four audit firms' market share with FTSE350 firms being 98% at the time of the report.
[5][6] Plans for the new regulator were included in the September 2019 Queen's Speech and, despite concerns that the launch of ARGA might be delayed, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) told Accountancy Daily in February 2020 that "next steps on audit reform" would be taken in the first quarter of 2020.
[12] In December 2021, Jan du Plessis was nominated by the UK Government to lead the FRC through its transformation into the ARGA.
[14] No further announcements have been made as to the timetable for establishing ARGA,[15] despite continued concerns about lack of competition in the UK audit market.