The inquiry will look at all matters surrounding the Enron scandal that involved members of either institute, the highest profile member being former Enron director Lord Wakeham, who also sat on the collapsed firm's audit committee.

It will also look at chartered accountants who were working for the company's auditor Andersen on the Enron account.

Although the scope of the investigation and length of time it will take is still to be clarified, one area that is likely to be looked at is the alleged shredding of documents at Enron's London offices, which was mentioned in the criminal case brought in the US.

Chris Dickson, executive council at the Joint Disciplinary Scheme, said: 'We are right at the start of this process and go into it with no preconceptions.'