UK: the Sharman Inquiry - preliminary report and recommendations

Last year the Financial Reporting Council launched an inquiry, led by Lord Sharman, to identify lessons for companies and auditors regarding the going concern assessment and liquidity risk. The inquiry panel published its preliminary report and recommendations yesterday: see here (pdf). The Panel recommended, amongst other things, that the FRC should harmonise, and clarify, the purpose of the going concern assessment and disclosure process in the UK Corporate Governance Code and related guidance and should consider whether the language used in the Code - to the effect that directors should state that the entity is a going concern - is too definitive.