EY to pay $10m to settle SEC misconduct charges August 3, 2021 Ernst & Young and three audit partners settled charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over claims of misconduct in their relationship with the chief accounting officer of a US company, it is widely reported. The big four firm agreed to a $10m (£7.2m) settlement to close the case on charges of audit independence [...]
PwC sued by racing car dealer for failing to spot alleged fraud July 27, 2021 PwC has been sued by the administrators of JD Classics, a racing car dealership, for allegedly failing to to spot fraud resulting in losses of over £41m. The UK’s biggest accounting firm was accused by administrators from Alvarez & Marsal of being negligent in their handling of accounts between 2016 and 2017 according to the [...]
Watchdog slams KPMG for ‘unacceptable’ bank audits for third year running July 26, 2021 KPMG has been called out for failing to meet standards in its bank audits for the third year in a row, by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in a review published on Friday, that found that a third of large company audits by the biggest UK firms failed to meet standards. The industry watchdog called [...]
Deloitte partner lays down the law for junior staff in leaked email July 19, 2021 The UK lead of Monitor Deloitte told junior staff that they should become “millionaires, authors or bums” if they wanted to be picky with their projects, in a leaked internal email. Alexander Curry, a partner and UK Lead at Monitor Deloitte, said that junior staff do not own their own time, in an email sent in [...]
PwC to ramp up partner pay packages to record highs after Covid profit rush July 17, 2021 The UK’s largest accountancy firm has done so well out of the pandemic that average partner pay at the firm has surged to a record £868,000. Demand for PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) consulting services has weathered Covid extremely well, and the firm is set to publish record-high revenues later in the year, according to reports in Sky [...]
Fees rise as Big Four still dominate FTSE 100 audits market July 14, 2021 Long-standing plans to increase competition in the auditing market appear to have been delayed slightly longer, as the Big Four accounting firms continue to dominate. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the regulator for auditors, said that KPMG, EY, Deloitte and PwC audited all FTSE 100 companies in a roughly even four-way split. Government-backed reviews had [...]
Audit reforms: IoD call for caution in plans to break Big Four dominance July 8, 2021 The government should approach its plans for an audit and corporate governance reform with greater caution, said the Institute of Directors (IoD). A government white paper aimed at breaking up the concentration of the Big Four auditing firms – Deloitte, PwC, KPMG and EY has stirred criticism from the business group, who said that the [...]
Support jobs at risk at Deloitte as firm moves to flexible working July 5, 2021 A total 150 employees at Deloitte are at risk of losing their job, as the firm’s decision to pivot to permanent flexible working has reduced the number of admin tasks at the company. Around a quarter of the 560 secretaries employed by the Big Four firm could lose their jobs, saving Deloitte some £4m annually [...]
EY creates independent audit board ahead of operational separation July 5, 2021 EY has appointed two independent non-executive directors to its newly created UK Audit Board, ahead of plans to operationally separate its UK audit practice from its consultancy business. Last summer the accounting watchdog asked the Big Four firms to separate their audit units from the rest of their business by 2024. Auditors have come under increased regulatory [...]
Deloitte tells staff they can work from home forever June 20, 2021 Staff working at Deloitte will be able to work wherever they want when Covid restrictions are eased and work from home guidance is scrapped. Staff at the Big Four firm will not be obligated to work from the office for a minimum number of days per week, as has been a typical response of Deloitte’s [...]