Taylor Wessing has taken a lead role for PwC on its £6.5m fine from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) for failures in the auditing of collapsed department store BHS.

The fine – which relates to the 2014 audits of BHS and the Taveta Group, the parent company of Sir Philip Green's Arcadia Group – comes after an investigation that began in June 2016.

After admitting misconduct, PwC was fined £10m, although this was discounted to £6.5m after it agreed to an early settlement. The previous record for an FRC-imposed fine was £5.1m, also handed to PwC for its 2011 audit of RSM Tenon.

The Big Four accountant has also received a "severe reprimand" from the FRC, and has agreed to review its policies and monitor and support its Leeds audit practice, in relation to which it must provide detailed annual reports to the FRC for the next three years.

The FRC also handed a separate £500,000 fine to PwC partner Steve Denison for his role in the BHS audit. This fine was also discounted, following early settlement, to £325,000. Denison, who spent 33 years at PwC, has been banned from audit work for 15 years.

In a statement, PwC said it accepted that that "there were serious shortcomings with this audit work" and that "whilst the failings did not contribute to the collapse of BHS over one year later, they were serious and this is reflected in the Financial Reporting Council settlement".

The investigation was launched after BHS fell into administration in 2016. The company was unable to agree a rescue package, resulting in the loss of 11,000 jobs.

Taylor Wessing previously represented PwC on its 2013 defence of a negligence claim brought by Yorkshire financial services group Cattles. The firm's team was led by commercial disputes partner Andrew Howell, who currently heads its disputes and investigations group.

A number of law firms have been involved in the fallout from the collapse of BHS. Linklaters acted for Arcadia on the £1 sale of the company to Retail Acquisitions in 2015 opposite legacy Olswang, and both firms were subsequently criticised for having only carried out 'cursory' checks into Retail Acquisitions, whose owner, Dominic Chappell, had been declared bankrupt three times.

In January 2017, a report by BHS's joint administrators, Duff & Phelps and FRP Advisory, showed that professional advisers working on the fallout from the retailer's collapse had racked up fees nearing £3m.

Taylor Wessing declined to comment.