The Financial Reporting Council, one of the City's top regulators, will next year launch a get-tough approach with five industries it believes are at risk of accounting errors. It will also confront "unnecessary" new boardroom regulation emerging from the European Union.

In an unprecedented move, the FRC will announce on Tuesday that it plans to probe accounts of companies in the automotive, pharmaceutical, retail, transport and utilities sectors. The regulator considers these sectors to be particularly exposed to accounting changes or vulnerable to poor business conditions.