The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published the
Public Interest Entity (PIE) Auditor Registration Regulations. These regulations provide for a register of firms and individuals approved to undertake statutory audit work for UK PIEs. PIEs who fall within these regulations are those defined in regulation 2 of the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016 (but excluding relevant authorities under section 2 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014).
The Regulations come into effect on 5 December 2022 and will require firms and individuals who undertake statutory audit work for PIEs to be registered on the PIE Audit Register. There will be a transitional period from 5 September to 4 December 2022 for existing PIE audit firms to submit transitional applications.
The creation of a PIE Audit Register was one of the key recommendations of the Kingman Review and it will provide the FRC with supervisory tools to assist in its monitoring of the audits of PIEs.