Mr. Tim Bush:

That is correct. It was also remarkable what happened in the event that an audit firm was fined for a problem. Take for example the time after the Farepak case in which EY was fined. An auditing firm would be fined £1 million, which was not the amount in that case but I use it as an example, following which the proceeds go back to the accounting institute of which the auditing firm is a member. It, effectively, gets a dividend because the fine is deemed to be income of the professional body whose member was fined. That goes into the general pot and finds its way back to the auditing firm.

Interestingly, the FRC had an agreement with the Department of Trade and Industry whereby if it lost a court case then the State underwrote the costs of the loss.