Officials may water down the biggest shake-up of boardroom rules in decades.
This year the Government laid out plans to reform audit and corporate governance standards after high-profile collapses such as Thomas Cook, Carillion and BHS.
But some of the more controversial legislation will be ditched after a huge backlash, the Financial Times reported, as the laws would make it more expensive to work in the UK.
Crackdown: The Government had planned to reform audit and corporate governance standards after high-profile collapses such as Thomas Cook, Carillion and BHS
It is thought reforms forcing company directors to take greater responsibility for their accounts will be scaled back.
This will deal a blow to auditing firms – under intense scrutiny for greenlighting accounts for firms that have later suddenly collapsed – who say the companies should take more responsibility for their accounts.
Other rowbacks are thought to include bringing fewer firms under the eye of a regulator.
The Department for Business said: ‘Our consultation set out a wide range of proposals to restore public trust in the way big businesses are run and scrutinised.
We will respond to the consultation in due course and no decisions have been taken.’ Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will have the final say.
