‘Front end’ of company reports do not meet auditing standards, says regulator December 6, 2018 Auditors’ work on non-financial information in company reports does not meet auditing standards, a new report has found. A report published today by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said auditors are often not doing enough to support statements made in the ‘other information’ section of company reports. The ‘other information’ section, also known as the [...]
Big Four firm KPMG comes through bruising year with strong set of results December 5, 2018 Big Four audit firm KPMG has pushed past the fallout from the collapse of outsourcer Carillion to deliver strong revenue and profit growth. The UK arm of the firm boosted revenue eight per cent to £2.338bn and underlying profit 18 per cent to £356m in the year to 30 September. The strong growth comes despite [...]
Patisserie Valerie appoints interim CFO as it seeks to steady the ship after accounting scandal December 5, 2018 Embattled cake shop Patisserie Valerie has appointed an interim CFO after its last one was suspended before quitting amid an accounting scandal surrounding a £40m black hole. Nick Perrin will serve in the role until the bakers can find a permanent successor to Chris Marsh, who resigned following investigations into possible fraud at the company. [...]
PwC loses FTSE 100 client crown in audit pass-the-parcel December 3, 2018 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the UK’s biggest accountancy firm, has had its crown – holding the highest number of FTSE 100 clients – snatched by rival KPMG. It is the first time PwC has lost its position as the leading auditor of the UK’s top blue-chip firms. KPMG now audits 28 FTSE 100 firms, to PwC’s 27, [...]
City Moves for 30 November – who’s switching jobs at DWF, Legal & General and Relendex? November 30, 2018 DWF DWF has appointed regulatory specialist Richard Burger as a partner in its regulatory, compliance and investigations team in London. Richard joins from corporate and insurance firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC). Richard has 20 years’ experience in UK and international regulatory enforcement, criminal and internal corporate investigations. A former regulatory enforcement lawyer with the FSA [...]
Patisserie Valerie searching for new auditor November 27, 2018 Patisserie Holdings, the parent firm of embattled cafe company Patisserie Valerie, has begun hunting for a new auditor to replace its under-fire accountant Grant Thornton. The bakery chain is in talks to find a successor to Grant Thornton, according to Sky News, days after the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said it was probing the beancounter over [...]
Big Four investigate their own clients on behalf of software giants November 23, 2018 The UK's top four accounting firms have been accused of a conflict of interest by investigating their own clients' use of software on behalf of technology firms. The so-called Big Four – PwC, KPMG, EY and Deloitte – carry out software audits on their clients on behalf of vendors such as Microsoft, SAP and IBM to see if firms [...]
Breaking up is hard to do, so why not put a ring on audit? November 23, 2018 Never have there been more eyes on audit. Sir John Kingman is examining the Financial Reporting Council and how audit can best be regulated. The Competition and Markets Authority is investigating competition and choice in the listed audit market. The BEIS Select Committee announced last week that it too will scrutinise audit, and the Audit [...]
KPMG faces tribunal for its work for mattress firm Silentnight November 22, 2018 Audit firm KPMG and one of its partners face a tribunal over work for mattress firm Silentnight, the accountancy watchdog said today. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) today delivered a formal complaint against the firm and restructuring partner David Costley-Wood. The FRC alleged that KPMG and Costley-Wood acted for Silentnight “in circumstances where their professional judgment [...]
Outgoing Grant Thornton boss defends firm’s audit quality as Patisserie Valerie probe is launched November 22, 2018 The outgoing head of accountancy firm Grant Thornton has admitted she had made mistakes in her leadership, but stood by the quality of the firm’s auditing, amid fresh questions over Patisserie Valerie. Sacha Romanovitch, who will step down at the start of next month after 28 years at the firm, took the dramatic decision last [...]