This review is one of a series of reviews of regulatory bodies focusing on the assessment of regulatory performance of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) against the Hampton principles and Macrory characteristics of effective inspection and enforcement. It was carried out by a review team drawn from the Better Regulation Executive, the Environment Agency and the Care Quality Commission. The review team found that the FRC demonstrated a very high level of compliance with Hampton criteria across most areas of its activities. The review team also found that the FRC adopted a positive approach to better regulation and was open to ideas to continually improve the delivery of its regulatory responsibilities. The balance between stability and economic growth was well struck, with a very high level of support from the main stakeholder groups. The FRC was found to operate with strong input from practitioners, supplemented by excellent wider consultation. However, the review team would suggest the FRC needs to ensure that the volume of consultation takes into account the potential burden on stakeholders. The review team found the FRC was easily accessible to main stakeholders on an ongoing basis. The flexible 'soft law' approach to raising standards of corporate governance in listed companies was found to be world-class.