Companies Act 2014 section 1583

Savings for disciplinary proceedings in being – 2016 Audits Regulations

Section 1583 ensures that disciplinary proceedings already under way by a recognised accountancy body against its members are not disrupted by the changes introduced by the Companies (Statutory Audits) Act 2018, and sets out the consequences for a member's deemed auditor approval if those proceedings result in termination of membership or withdrawal of auditing approval.

• Disciplinary proceedings that were already in progress before the relevant commencement date of the 2018 Act are unaffected by the new legislation and may continue to their conclusion.
• This protection applies to proceedings by a recognised accountancy body against any of its own members, other than those already covered by the separate savings provision in section 1582.
• If the proceedings result in termination of the member's membership or withdrawal of the body's approval for the person to act as an auditor, any deemed approval that person held as a statutory auditor or audit firm under section 1471 automatically ceases to have effect.
• The provision safeguards procedural continuity so that existing disciplinary cases are not inadvertently interrupted or invalidated by the transition to the updated statutory audit framework.