The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has excluded Russell McBurnie, the former Finance Director of RSM Tenon Group (RSM Tenon), from the accountancy profession for a recommended period of five years.

McBurnie has also been fined £60,000 (reduced to £57,000 for settlement) and will pay £825,000 towards the costs of the investigation.

It has been reported that the terms of the settlement have been approved by the independent Disciplinary Tribunal appointed to hear the formal complaint.

The form RSM Tenon financial director has admitted to extensive misconduct in relation to the preparation and approval of the financial statements of the RSM Tenon for the year ended 30 June 2011. In addition to this, McBurnie has also confessed to nine allegations that his conduct fell significantly short of the standards reasonably to be expected of a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

It has been found that McBurnie breached two of the fundamental principles of the ICAEW code of ethics, including the principle of integrity, which required him to be straightforward and honest in all professional and business relationships. He has admitted to being reckless as to whether certain information within the financial statements had been fairly and accurately stated.

The FRC has recently published the settlement agreements in relation to McBurnie, PricewaterhosueCoopers LLP (PwC), Nicholas Boden and Andrew Raynor. Sanctions against PwC and Boden, a PwC partner, in relation to the audit of RSM Tenon were announced in August 2017, and sanctions against Raynor, the former RSM Tenon CEO, were announced in December 2016.

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