(1)The Secretary of State may make grants to any body carrying on activities concerned with any of the matters set out in subsection (2).
(2)The matters are—
(a)issuing accounting standards;
(b)issuing standards in respect of matters to be contained in reports required to be produced by auditors or company directors;
(c)investigating departures from standards within paragraph (a) or (b) or from the accounting requirements of the Companies Act 1985 (c. 6) or any requirements of directly applicable Community legislation relating to company accounts;
(d)taking steps to secure compliance with such standards or requirements;
(e)keeping under review periodic accounts and reports that are produced by issuers of listed securities and are required to comply with any accounting requirements imposed by listing rules;
(f)establishing, maintaining or carrying out arrangements within paragraph 17, 18, 19(1) or 20(1) of Schedule 11 to the Companies Act 1989 (c. 40);
(g)exercising functions of the Secretary of State under Part 2 of that Act;
(h)carrying out investigations into public interest cases arising in connection with the performance of accountancy functions by members of professional accountancy bodies;
(i)holding disciplinary hearings relating to members of such bodies following the conclusion of such investigations;
(j)deciding whether (and, if so, what) disciplinary action should be taken against members of such bodies to whom such hearings related;
(k)supervising the exercise by such bodies of regulatory functions in relation to their members;
(l)overseeing or directing any of the matters mentioned above.
(3)A grant may be made to a body within subsection (1) in respect of any of its activities.
(4)For the purposes of this section—
(a)a body is to be regarded as carrying on any subsidiary activities of the body; and
(b)a body’s “subsidiary activities” are activities carried on by any of its subsidiaries or by any body established under its constitution or under the constitution of such a subsidiary.
(5)In this section—
“accountancy functions” means functions performed as an accountant, whether in the capacity of auditor or otherwise;
“company” means a company within the meaning of the Companies Act 1985 (c. 6);
“issuer”, “listing rules” and “security” have the meaning given by section 103(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (c. 8) (interpretation of Part 6);
“professional accountancy body” means—
a supervisory body which is recognised for the purposes of Part 2 of the Companies Act 1989 (c. 40), or
a qualifying body, as defined by section 32 of that Act, which enforces rules as to the performance of accountancy functions by its members,
and references to the members of professional accountancy bodies include persons who, although not members of such bodies, are subject to their rules in performing accountancy functions;
“public interest cases” means matters which raise or appear to raise important issues affecting the public interest;
“regulatory functions”, in relation to professional accountancy bodies, means any of the following functions—
investigatory or disciplinary functions exercised by such bodies in relation to the performance by their members of accountancy functions,
the setting by such bodies of standards in relation to the performance by their members of accountancy functions, and
the determining by such bodies of requirements in relation to the education and training of their members;
“subsidiary” has the meaning given by section 736 of the Companies Act 1985.
(6)In their application to Scotland—
(a)subsection (2)(a) is to be read as referring only to accounting standards applying in relation to the accounts of companies or bodies (other than companies) established for the purpose of carrying on any kind of business, whether or not for profit;
(b)subsection (2)(h) to (j) are to be read as referring only to accountancy functions performed in relation to companies or such bodies, and
(c)subsection (2)(k) is to be read as referring only to regulatory functions exercised in relation to the performance of such accountancy functions;
and in paragraph (a) above “business” includes the provision of benefits to members of the body concerned.
(7)Omit section 256(3) of the Companies Act 1985 (c. 6) (grants to bodies concerned with issuing accounting standards etc.), which is superseded by this section.