Major shakeup is needed to fix the Big Four, expert says March 18, 2022 A prominent academic has called on the government to expedite its audit reforms, after arguing a serious shakeup is needed to prevent an “appalling” situation from getting worse. Speaking to City A.M. accountancy expert Professor Atul Shah said, “the record of the UK’s auditing industry has been appalling over the last two decades and it’s [...]
Big Four auditors EY, KPMG, Deloitte and PwC face SEC probe over conflicts-of-interest March 16, 2022 The US watchdog tasked with regulating financial markets has launched an investigation into potential conflicts of interest in the Big Four accountancy companies. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has set up a probe into whether the Big Four’s businesses selling consulting and non-audit services undermine their ability to provide objective and independent audits, [...]
Sanctions will force consultancies to drop Russian clients, consultancy trade body says March 2, 2022 The trade body for management consultancies has said the UK government’s sanctions on Russia and Belarus will “inevitably” mean some consultancies will be forced to cut links with some of their clients. In a statement, Tamzen Isacsson, Chief Executive of the Management Consultancies Association (MCA), said: “Our firms are strictly abiding by the updated changes [...]
Big Four auditors KPMG, EY, and PwC seek to distance themselves from Russia March 1, 2022 The Big Four auditors have sought to distance themselves from Russia, after the UK government told City of London companies not to work on behalf of the Putin regime. In a post on Linkedin, Jon Holt, chief executive of KPMG’s UK division, said KPMG will be “ending” some of its client relationships in order to [...]
Irish accountancy watchdogs raises concerns over Deloitte and EY audits February 28, 2022 Ireland’s audit watchdog has said flagged issues with audits carried out by Big Four accountancy firms Deloitte and EY, after carrying out its annual review of auditors. The Irish Auditing & Accountancy Supervisory Authority (IAASA) said audits completed by Deloitte and EY required improvements, after sampling six sample audits carried out by the firms. By [...]
UK fraudsters extend their reach after taking advantage of two-thirds more victims during Covid February 24, 2022 The number of UK fraud cases worth more than £100,000 jumped by two-thirds (66 per cent) between 2020 and 2021, according to new figures from KPMG’s UK Fraud Barometer. The figures show fraudsters took a splatter-gun approach to financial crime last year, in defrauding a larger number of victims for smaller sums of money than [...]
KPMG ditches golfer Mickelson over Saudi breakaway tour row February 23, 2022 KPMG has terminated its long-standing sponsorship of Phil Mickelson in the wake of the US golfer’s comments supporting a proposed Saudi-backed tour. Mickelson apologised on Tuesday for remarks in which he pushed the case for a new circuit despite acknowledging Saudi Arabia’s “horrible record on human rights”. KPMG on Mickelson’s cap has been one of [...]
UK government to set out plans for audit watchdog overhaul imminently after years of delays February 14, 2022 UK government ministers will set out their plans to reform regulation of the UK’s auditing industry within the coming weeks, after calls for an overhaul first emerged in 2018 in response to the collapse of UK construction contractor Carillion. The proposals are currently being circulated and are set to be signed off imminently, according to [...]
EY, Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC are the biggest employers of business grads, new figures show February 14, 2022 Business school grads are more likely to go into consulting, than any other industry, according to a survey of 300,000 business grads from OnlineU. More than a fifth (21.1 per cent) of business grads surveyed worked in consultancies, the figures show. Notably, the Big Four auditors alone employed more than 12 per cent of those [...]
Former KPMG auditors claim watchdog failed to give them a fair hearing over Carillion allegations February 10, 2022 The former KPMG employees being investigated by the UK’s accountancy watchdog over their work auditing collapsed construction giant Carillion have claimed the regulator has failed to give them a fair hearing. The former KPMG employees said the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) did not give them an opportunity to answer all of the allegations against them, [...]