- Professional Oversight Board
The Professional Oversight Board (POB), formerly known as the Professional Oversight Board for Accountancy, is a UK
regulatory body specializing in theaccounting ,auditing and actuarialprofession s. It is a part of theFinancial Reporting Council (FRC), the independent regulator ofcorporate governance and reporting in the U.K. The name change, as ofMay 5 ,2006 , reflects the recent assumption of oversight of the actuarial profession by the board. The current director of the board is Paul George.The board's stated purpose is to support the FRC's goal of
investor and public confidence in thefinancial governance ofbusiness organizations. The board assures that professional accountancy bodies are properly setting standards and enforcingdiscipline for their members, in accordance with the Companies Act and other statutory requirements. However, If a complaint raises concerns that a professional accountancy or actuarial body may have breached significantly its own standard procedures in the handling of a complaint about their member, POB will normally seek the comments of the relevant body and look at papers relating to the case as appropriate. POB will then normally write to the complainant to tell them the outcome of their consideration of the matter and whether the body proposes to take any action based on their comments. POB do not have the power either to overturn any decision which the body has made in a case or to direct how the body should handle a case. [ [http://www.frc.org.uk/pob/complaints/index.cfm How and when will the Professional Oversight Board respond to a complaint] ] . In common with many other public authorities, they have a policy of ignoring individual complaints. In other words, POB have no powers to ensure public confidence with respect to the complaint handling procedures of UK professional accountancy bodies and have no desire to improve this situation.The board also operates an Independent Audit Unit (AIU) that oversees auditing organizations and makes recommendations for appropriate regulatory actions by governmental and professional authorities. As part of its recently assumed oversight of the actuarial profession, the board monitors the activities of actuarial organizations with regard to the education, discipline, ethical standards and continuing
professional development of their members. The board also seeks to provide a framework for the evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of actuarial work.The board is almost entirely composed of members of the accountancy profession that the board is supposed to regulate [ [http://www.frc.org.uk/documents/pagemanager/pob/Biogs%20for%20web-site%201%20April%202008.pdf Professional Oversight Board] ] rather than the range of skills and backgrounds favoured by Lord Nolan's rules on public appointments.
References
External links
* [http://www.frc.org.uk/pob/ Official POB web site]
* [http://www.frc.org.uk/index.cfm Official FRC web site]
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