Russell McBurnie was barred from the accountancy profession for five years, fined £60,000, reduced to £57,000 for settlement, and ordered to pay investigation costs of £825,000, following his admission of “extensive misconduct” in relation to the preparation and approval of the financial statements of RSM Tenon for the year ended 30 June 2011.

RSM Tenon, which had a Financial Planning arm, slipped into administration in 2013, after which it was acquired by Baker Tilly.

Mr McBurnie admitted nine incidences when 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).”

He breached two of the Fundamental Principles of the ICAEW Code of Ethics, including the Fundamental Principle of Integrity, which required him to be straightforward and honest in all professional and business relationships, because he was “reckless” as to whether certain information within the financial statements had been fairly and accurately stated.

The FRC published the settlement agreements in relation to Mr McBurnie, PwC, Nicholas Boden and Andrew Raynor today.

Sanctions against PwC and Mr Boden, a partner of PwC, in relation to the audit of RSM Tenon were announced last August and sanctions against Mr Raynor, former chief executive of RSM Tenon, were announced in December 2016.