SHARES in Tesco have raced ahead after the supermarket giant opened up its compensation scheme for investors impacted by the 2014 accounting scandal.

Tesco, which was up just shy of two per cent on London Stock Exchange, has appointed KPMG to lead the process overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA said in March that Tesco had committed market abuse when it overstated profits by £263 million in a trading update on August 29 2014. It concluded that Tesco's share price was inflated as a result, meaning investors paid a higher price and were entitled to claim compensation if they bought shares and bonds between August 29 and September 19 2014. The financial regulator said each net buyer of shares over the period would be entitled to 24.5p per share purchased, alongside interest of 1.25 per cent per year if the buyer is an institutional investor and four per cent per year for retail investors.