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Tag: FRC

  • FRC to sanction govt agencies breaching reporting rule

    FRC to sanction govt agencies breaching reporting rule

    The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) has warned that any government agency and institutions not complying with its reporting standards rule will be sanctioned.

    Chief Executive Officer, Financial Reporting Council (FRC), Dr. Rabiu Olowo,  yesterday at a media roundtable in Lagos, said the council has evidence that numerous entities and government institutions are falling short of the high standards expected under the FRC Act 2011.

    He said the council will continue to play critical role in setting high standards of auditing and corporate governance while ensuring accountability of those implementing the rules. 

    “Our task therefore is to transform the FRC into a new, robust, independent, and high-performing regulator comparable globally. The bedrock of the transformation agenda of the council going forward is to ensure maximum compliance with the FRC Act 2011 (as amended), and other statutory instruments released by the Council.”

    “FRC intends to give full credibility to any financial statements coming out of Nigeria in a way that investors can rely on the information in the statements. A new FRC that will be firm and fair in carrying out her mandate; that will hold corporates and individuals accountable; and that will restore confidence in corporate reports and governance in the Nigerian economy thereby enhance the renewed hope of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Olowo said.

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    Olowo said the transformation agenda which will hinged on four broad areas tagged Digitisation, Operational Excellence  – Stakeholder Engagement  and Enforcement “DOSE” will ensure best practices in financial reporting, auditing and corporate governance in Nigeria.

    Olowo said the Council remains integral to the roadmap of providing confidence to investors as Nigeria embarks on a journey towards a renewed hope, where the strength of businesses and government institutions is of utmost importance to the economy.

    Coming from the days where FRC was a private initiative of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) as the Nigerian Accounting Standards Board (NASB) for the setting of accounting standards in Nigeria from which Statement of Accounting Standards (SAS) was the norm, FRC has helped to dictate the pace of accounting practice in Nigeria and even West Africa.

    He backed the World Bank study and subsequent reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC), with the aim of assessing the degree to which economies observe internationally recognized standards and codes.

    “The ROSC report assessed the strengths and weaknesses of existing institutional frameworks that underpin financial accounting and auditing practices in a number of countries including Nigeria. In Nigeria, this study covered an assessment of the framework of the then Nigerian Accounting Standards Board (NASB),” he said.

    Olowo, said the outcome of the report showed that in addition to the multiplicity of laws and bodies for the regulation of accounting, financial reporting, and auditing requirements in Nigeria, the NASB lacked capacity and adequate resources to fulfill its mandate.

    Moreso, it relied mainly on government subventions and was exposed to serious budgetary constraints that prevented it from discharging its statutory role effectively.

    “The ROSC report therefore recommended the need to streamline financial reporting and auditing requirements, harmonize regulatory arrangements, and codify them as a separate law. It then proposed the establishment of a new independent oversight body, the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria with robust and sustainable funding sources and enlarged powers to effectively monitor and enforce accounting and auditing requirements with additional focus on areas of corporate governance, actuarial standards, and valuation standards,” he said.

    Olowo said that the 21st Century has seen a massive shift from manual processes into a digital operationalization of activities.

    “Our transformation agenda is hinged upon the use of technological tool to enhance our activities.  FRC will leverage on technology to streamline its operations and improve efficiency. This includes the use of technology in the filing and analysis of financial statements, corporate governance reports and other corporate filings, as well as the implementation of online reporting systems to facilitate timely and accurate submission of financial statements”.

  • FRC frowns at FHA over non remittance of operating surplus

    Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), is unhappy with the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) for not submitting its annual report and observing other FRC requirements.

    A statement from the FRC signed by Bede Ogueri Anyanwu, Acting Head, Strategic Communication Directorate, said the “Acting Chairman of Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC),  Victor Muruako frowned at the fact that FHA has not been submitting their annual audited account, receipts of their remittances, budgets, Medium Term Expenditure Framework, (MTEF) and operational strategic plan, thereby hampering prompt and accurate determination of operating surplus liabilities.”

    The Acting Chairman spoke at the Stakeholders meeting with the management of the FHA at the Commission’s Headquarters, in Asokoro, Abuja.

    Muruako pointed out that the independent revenue drive of the Federal Government is not encouraging and Federal Housing Authority has not been complying fully with the provisions of section 21, 22 and 23 of Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007.

    Muruako implored them to update their Chief Executive about the Commission’s readiness to offer them training on the recently launched template on the calculation of Operating Surplus to improve compliance.

    In his remarks, the Head of Monitoring and Evaluation of FRC, Alhaji Ola Tijani pointed out that Federal Housing Authority should not pretend about compliance, but must show proof of prudence, accountability and transparency in financial reporting in order to be in line with the FRA 2007.

  • CITN, FRC discuss cost of registration

    The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CITN) and Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) are looking at the possibility of cutting FRC registration cost for companies.

    In a statement, CITN, said its leadership led a delegation to the office of the FRCN on a courtesy visit  and were received by the Executive Secretary of the FRCN Daniel Asapokhai.

    “The purpose of the visit amongst other things was to request for a review of the cost of multiple registration by professionals registering with the FRCN and to request for collaboration between the CITN and FRCN in ways that can be mutually beneficial and supportive to both organisations in fulfilling their mandates,” it said.

    The Executive Secretary, while thanking the delegation for the visit, assured that effective January 2019, new rates for registration with the Council would be implemented and the concerns of the Institute would be taken into consideration.

    Other issues was that the FRCN would be conducting a training and sensitisation in future. CITN could be involved by contributing resources (Facilitators). Specific areas of involvement by both bodies would be discussed in due course,

    Also, the FRCN would be requiring input to its codes from time to time. It would welcome that a mechanism be put in place for a seamless input from the Institute when the need arises,

    Asapokhai said an ongoing work towards having a geographical distribution of accounting professionals. He urged the Institute if it does not have such data to work towards having same. This would provide information on whether tax professionals are properly distributed in key commercial centres and the gender spread of the Institute’s membership.

  • FRC inaugurates Audit Regulation Working Group

    The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) has inaugurated its Audit Regulation Working Group to help improve audit quality and enhance economic growth in the country.

    Membership of the group and subject matter experts were drawn from the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation, the Federal Ministry of Justice, Forum of Small and Medium-sized Audit Practitioners, Nigerian Accounting Association, the Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria as well as some international and national accounting firms.

    Speaking during a meeting of members of the Group in Lagos, the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the FRC, Daniel Asapokhai, said an audit o corporate reporting supports the orderly functioning of the capital market and helps companies in raising capital from other sources and improves confidence in the integrity of financial statements.

    Commenting further, Asapokhai noted that effective public oversight of audits would improve audit quality and support economic growth.

    According to him, the FRC’s goal is to improve the quality of statutory audits in Nigeria by taking steps “to improve the independence of audit firms and auditors from the entity being edited; enhance the informational value of the audit reporting to investors; promote a more dynamic and competitive market for audit services and foster convergence of standards with Nigeria’s largest trading partners.”

    On his part, the Chairman of the FRC, Adedotun Sulaiman, noted that the Working Group would provide technical assistance to the FRC in releasing a comprehensive set of rules over the next several months, to better regulate in the interest of members of the public, the independent audit of corporate financial reporting and more effectively transition the oversight of audits in Nigeria from the Professional Accounting Organisations to the FRC.

    “The Working Group will assist the FRC to assess the state of audit regulation in Nigeria, develop new requirements for audit firms and auditor registration, regulation of broader assurance services, the practice reviews and inspection of audit firms provided for in Sections 60 and 61 of the FRC Act as well as requirement for the conduct of different assurance engagements,” he added.

     

  • FRC rolls out new code of governance for private, public organizations

    The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria, on Tuesday, organized a public hearing in Kano on Exposure draft of Nigerian code of Corporate Governance that would guide both public and private sectors on good cooperate governance which would ease and encourage investors and enhance the integrity of the Nigerian capital market, by entrenching a culture of disclosure, transparency and accountability.

    Speaking during the public hearing / Sensitization on Nigerian Code of Cooperate Governance, Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, (FRC) Mr Danial Asapokhai said that the Nigerian Cooperate Governance has adopted the “ Apply and Explain” principle which requires companies to apply the requirements of the code and explain how they did so.

    This, he explained was adopted after a careful considerations of several factors such as the legal system, culture, history, government policies, economic and political climate of the country.

    Asopokhai said, “It is our belief that this code will promote ease of doing business, attract local and foreign investments and enhance the integrity of the Nigerian Capital Market by entrenching a culture of disclosure, transparency and accountability. In addition, this code will raise public awareness of good cooperate governance practices” he said.

    According to him, “ the Nigerian code of cooperate Governance 2018 was developed based on a comprehensive review of the suspended 2016 code of cooperate Governance by a fifteen-man technical committee and extensive consultative and collaborative engagement with a wide range of stakeholders and the regulators”

    “ The 2018 Code shall apply to all public companies whether listed or not, all private companies that are holding companies of public companies and other regulated entities, concession and privatized companies, and regulated private companies”

    The Executive Secretary said that the public hearing would take place in all the geo-political zones of the country including FCT where it is expected to be successful and impactful for private and public organizations. “ As this is the first time FRC is coming out with an accepted cooperate balanced Code”

    The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria is a Federal Government Agency established by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act No. 6, 2011 under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.

  • Gains of Corporate Governance Code, by FRC

    The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria yesterday said the proposed Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance 2018, when finalised and adhered to by commercial entities, will enhance national competitiveness and attract local and foreign investments.

    Its Executive Secretary/CEO, Mr. Daniel Asapokhai, said the 60-page Code, which contained 230 recommended practices and 28 principles of corporate governance, had the capacity to boost the nation’s competitiveness.

    Asapokhai, who spoke at a media briefing on the release of the “Exposure Draft of the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance 2018’ in Lagos, added that the  Code will enhance local and foreign investments and promote ease of doing business.

    “It is our belief that this Code will promote ease of doing business, attract local and foreign investments and enhance the integrity of the Nigerian market by entrenching a culture of disclosure, transparency and accountability.

    “In addition, this Code will raise public awareness for essential corporate values, ethical practices and stakeholders’ confidence,” he said.

    He said the current Code was in line with what countries across the world are doing.

     

  • FRC berates Maritime Academy over non-remittance of surplus

    FRC berates Maritime Academy over non-remittance of surplus

    The Fiscal Responsibility Council of Nigeria has berated the management of Maritime Academy, Oron, Akwa Ibom State for flouting the Fiscal Responsibility Act by not paying its operating surplus into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federal Government.

    Its Acting Chairman, Barr Victor Muruako made this known yesterday at the interface between the scheduled corporation under the supervision of the Commission which is mandated to remit its operating surplus after the end of the year to the Federation Account.

    He noted that the Commission as one of the key government agencies saddled with the responsibility of improving on the independent revenue of the Federal Government and as such all the 122 scheduled corporation as directed by the Minister of Finance must key into this provision to improve on revenue generation that would be useful in executing the budget.

    “The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007 mandated our Commission to ensure that Ministries, Departments and Agencies under our supervision remit operating surplus as well as audited account for accountability and transparency in public finance and any corporation that flout this provision will be reported to the Attorney General of the Federation.”

    He maintained that the attitude of the Academy to remit operating surplus over the years calls for concern and he had no option than to ask Legal, Investigation and Enforcement Directorate of the Commission to move in and compel the institution to comply with the provisions of Fiscal responsibility Act.

  • FRC to review National Code of Corporate Governance

    The board of Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) has inaugurated Technical Committee on National Code of Corporate Governance.

    The committee will in the coming months review the suspended National Code of Corporate Governance taking into cognizance the extensive public commentary received on the suspended codes, the FRC has said.

    Chairman, Governing Board, of FRC, Adedotun Sulaiman, said the board has been working over the past several months taking stocks and developing a new strategic direction and plan for the FRC.

    He said the council will in the next three to five years, review and re-issue the National Code of Corporate Governance, conduct a post-implementation review of International Financial Reporting Standard adoption in Nigeria; introduce IFRS –Lite for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector and uniform government-wide financial reporting system and improvement of financial reporting and standards of corporate governance.

    The FRC assembled panel of experts and experienced Nigerians to assist it with the assignment. Sulaiman said the new  rules and regulations coming will strengthen the operating environment,  create a more enabling and supportive environment for investment and protect the interest of investors and ease of doing business. He said the review committee will harmonise and streamline different sectoral codes on corporate governance

    Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer FRC, Daniel Asapokhai, expressed confidence that the committee would do a great job and help the country address the procedural and substantive concerns that culminated in the suspension of earlier released code in 2016. He said the International Finance Corporation (IFC) backs the ongoing review of the code.

    The committee said suggestions will be taken to different stakeholders and their views secured on the matter. Also, whatever the committee comes up with, must sustain development. “We need to cover those that contribute most to the economy. Public interest entities must capture key participants in the economy,” he said.

    The FRC Technical Committee Chairman, National Code of Corporate Governance, Muhammad K. Ahmad said the suspended National Code of Corporate Governance will be reviewed, revisioned and re-issued in line with peculiarities of the Nigeria’s environment.

    “On a lighter note, the activities of religious institutions are guided by divine laws. And we all know what divine laws are. You and I know that in divine laws, you do not need Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Each and every one of us is going to be held accountable. We carry our duty and go before God and disclose what we have done. There is no hiding place. There is no proscription and there is no lawyer. And since it is a divine court, there is nothing to be worried about,” he said.

    According to Ahmad, who explained why the technical committee deferred review of the National Code of Corporate Governance on Not-for-Profit till later in the year, assured that the code for this segment will be ready before the end of the year. The review starts with public interest entities, with the size, reach among other factors considered because they are seen as big ticket entities.

  • FRC urges compliance with FRC Act on debt limit

    The Acting Chairman, Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), Victor Muruako, has advised the Federal Government to set a debt limit for the three tiers of government to serve as guide for loan procurement.

    He gave the advice when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.

    According to him, the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007 provides for the urgent need to set the debt limit of the three tiers of government.

    Muruako said that the Federal Government had not complied with Section 42 of the FRA, 2007.

    The said section provides for the president to set overall limits or debt ceilings for the amount of consolidated debt of the Federal and State Governments, subject to approval of the National Assembly.

    “Most governments operate with the information that they are still borrowing within the limit, although we have not exceeded the standard.

  • FRC stops fines on brokers

    The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has agreed that the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) should henceforth undertake the submission of its members’approved accounts and that no fine would be imposed on the members, the President, Mr Kayode Okunoren, has said.
    He made this known at the April Edition of NCRIB Members’ Evening, in Lagos.
    He said this was the outcome of a meeting with the FRC Chairman, Mr. Dotun Sulaimon, and a delegation of the NCRIB that paid a courtesy visit on the financial Council.
    He said it was agreed that the accounts submitted would be reviewed by FRC based on the concerns raised by the regulators and that the FRC would collaborate with the NCRIB to organise enlightenment programmes for brokers.
    He said it was agreed that no fine would be imposed on brokers for for non-compliance with the FRC Act.
    He said, however, that NCRIB members must register their CEOs and CFOs with the FRC, as well as update their membership.
    On the Code of Corporate Governance, Okunoren said the meeting affirmed that most broking firms are small entities and that the Code had been suspended and was being review.
    He said: “It was agreed that the new code would take cognizance of the peculiarities of different sectors and that the exposure draft would be made available in due course for review by the public before it coming into force.
    ‘’It was most good that the FRC Management promised that the FRC would be pro-business and pro-development. It is my hope that members would take advantage of the concessions and continue to live up to the responsibilities by registering with the Council and submitting their audited accounts, timeously.’’