No action is to be taken against Lord Wakeham for his role as a non executive director and member of the audit committee at Enron when it collapsed.

But the Joint Disciplinary Scheme said that there was a need to clarify the role of non-execs and has written to the ICAEW and ICAS asking for guidance.

Chris Dickson, executive counsel of the JDS, this week announced his decision to take no action against Lord Wakeham, a former Tory chief whip in Lady Thatcher’s government, concluding that further investigations would not be ‘practicable’.

‘To investigate the matter further against Lord Wakeham would entail finding, almost certainly in the US, evidence which has not been discovered by the authorities there. The executive counsel considers that it is not practicable to undertake such a search, and is conscious that he has no power to compel any witness in the US to co-operate with him. He does not believe, therefore, that it is in the public interest for him to enquire further into the matter,’ the statement said.

Following the 2001 collapse of Enron, its directors have been extensively investigated in the US resulting in CFO Andrew Fastow, being sentenced to six years imprisonment and a $24m (£11.9m) fine, while the auditors, Andersen, were fined $500,000 and given a five-year probation sentence. though the conviction was quashed.

But the US authorities did not see fit to take action against non-executive directors such as Lord Wakeham.

The JDS began inquiries into Lord Wakeham on the basis of the key role he played as he was the only professional accountant on Enron’s audit committee. ‘It does not appear that Lord Wakeham had a sufficient understanding of these transactions,’ the JDS said.

Further Reading:

Read the JDS's report on the matter