Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government who receives the proceeds of successful legal actions brought by the Financial Reporting Council against any of the Big Four accountancy firms; and whether any of those proceeds are allocated to accountancy firms trade associations.

Fines imposed on accountancy firms by the Financial Reporting Council as part of an audit enforcement action must be paid by the Financial Reporting Council to the Secretary of State. Any costs awarded to the Financial Reporting Council in recognition of the enforcement costs funded by the recognised audit supervisory bodies must be paid to those bodies. This arrangement applies only in respect of fines paid under the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016.