UK Watchdog Hits Bankrupt Council’s CFO With First-Time Sanction

The UK’s accounting watchdog barred the chief financial officer of a bankrupt local authority from the profession for five years in a first-of-its-kind sanction.

The Financial Reporting Council said Thursday it was the first time it had sanctioned a local authority CFO. The CFO at issue, Sean Robert Clark, was the finance boss of Thurrock Council when it went bust in 2022 after borrowing £1 billion to fund unsuccessful commercial investments.

The FRC criticized Clark’s conduct with its most severe level of reprimand and recommended that the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants exclude Clark from its membership for ...