Is audit quality good enough? In large part that must depend on how well firms that carry out audits are run, and the Financial Reporting Council has opened a consultation on its governance code for such firms.

The Audit Firm Governance Code dates back to 2010, when the FRC introduced it to address audit problems from the banking crisis. It also hoped to keep clients' choice of auditor as wide as possible by reducing the risk that a firm might leave the market because it had lost public trust.