17 December 2025
In 2018, the Government announced a major review of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), which included looking at the regulation of accountants, auditors and actuaries in the UK. This was prompted by concerns about the quality of UK audit following several high-profile corporate collapses.
Since then, the IFoA has actively engaged with successive governments, the FRC, and other stakeholders to represent members’ interests as proposals were developed that would have seen the regulation of actuaries placed on a statutory footing, through the proposed Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill.
After over seven years of consultation and engagement, the Government has decided not to proceed with proposals that would have placed the regulation of UK actuaries into legislation.
Instead, the FRC and IFoA will continue with voluntary arrangements under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
This is a positive outcome recognising that statutory intervention may have led to unintended consequences for IFoA members and their employers, including increased regulatory burdens and costs, as well as a negative impact of the profession’s competitiveness.
Our attention will now turn to working in partnership with the Financial Reporting Council to update the current MoU to ensure it supports a modern, proportionate regulatory framework for actuaries.
Responding to HM Treasury’s announcement that actuarial regulation will no longer be put on a statutory footing as part of the government’s audit and corporate governance reform, Lord Currie, IFoA Board Chair, said:
“We welcome HMT's decision not to move the regulation of the actuarial profession to a statutory basis. Whilst we did not oppose the principle, we were concerned about how actuarial work could be defined in statute and any unintended consequences. This clarification will enable us to engage positively with the Financial Reporting Council and its successor to ensure that actuarial regulation has a clear demarcation of responsibilities and is proportionate whilst protecting the public interest.”