A senior UK finance director has stepped into the row over the disciplinary board’s proposal to hold off paying costs to defendants against whom it cannot prove charges.

The Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board’s proposals to change the rules, ­ which include bringing accountants and FDs before a tribunal for transgressing guidance and not just rules, ­ have upset firms, which have held joint talks on the matter.

Ken Lever, chairman of the financial reporting committee of the Hundred Group of Finance Directors, believes the ‘accused’ should be in a position to mount a defence without worrying about the costs.

‘However, the FRC will ensure costs are met for defendants that do not have the means to pay. That said, it is concerning that an action could be brought and lost by the FRC, yet the defendant picks up the costs,’ he said.

The regulator has hit out at firms that said the AADB was creating an environment ‘in which it can’t lose’.

‘There is a public interest in a regulator being able to bring cases that need to be brought… and not fear ruinous costs if it loses. The Court of Appeal has stated that the normal concept of “loser pays” does not apply in regulatory cases,’ the FRC said.