Here are the six (yes, six) reviews the audit sector is currently facing November 14, 2018 As 2018 continues to be the annus horribilis of audit, bean counters are finding that sector reviews are, as the saying goes, like buses. With news this week that MPs are going to launch their own super-inquiry, the sector now faces six reviews. If that seems like more than you’ve got to grips with, here’s a [...]
The pressure is on to fix the broken audit market November 14, 2018 Accountancy may be “an art, not a science”, but there needs to be less “Jackson Pollock”. That’s according to the Labour MP Rachel Reeves, chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee, who has made it her mission to fix the broken audit market. The Big Four firms (PwC, Deloitte, EY, and KPMG) are [...]
Beleaguered audit watchdog boss may be forced out within weeks, says senior MP November 13, 2018 Stephen Haddrill, the beleaguered boss of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) may be forced to resign within weeks after a report into the widely-criticised audit sector regulator is released, a top Labour MP has said. Rachel Reeves, chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee, said Haddrill, who has announced his intention [...]
Interview: Rachel Reeves drags audit into the light November 13, 2018 Rachel Reeves doesn’t fit the typical mould of a select committee chair. Where her counterparts leverage their positions of parliamentary power to try to forcibly move their party’s position (see Nicky Morgan), or to launch populist crusades to fix society’s ills (see Damian Collins), Reeves has taken a less attention-seeking approach to the chair, and [...]
MPs launch inquiry into future of ‘broken’ audit sector November 12, 2018 A powerful parliamentary committee will launch an inquiry into the “broken” audit market today, aimed at ensuring an ongoing competition probe ends the “overwhelming market domination” of the Big Four. Labour MP Rachel Reeves will announce the inquiry – by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee which she chairs – during a [...]
Insolvency Service to meet Frank Field over refusal to reopen BHS investigation November 11, 2018 Frank Field, chair of the work and pensions committee, will meet the Insolvency Service (IS) later this month after it refused to reopen its investigation into the collapse of BHS. The IS concluded its investigation, which saw Sir Philip Green escape a boardroom ban, in March but accounting watchdog the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has [...]
Federal Reserve will now publish semi-annual stability reports in bid to tackle risk November 10, 2018 The Federal Reserve will now publish periodic reports on the US financial system's stability twice a year, starting on November 28. The report will feature an overview of how the Federal Reserve's governors assess the financial sector's resilience and try to detail any risk as the country's economy continues to expand. “We learned from the financial [...]
Deloitte calls for audit market cap and ban on selling extra services to audit clients November 8, 2018 Two of the world’s biggest accountancy firms have backed a ban on UK auditors selling extra services to their audit clients, setting the stage for a huge shift in the embattled sector. Deloitte and KPMG – two members of audit’s Big Four – have backed the move, which would potentially put hundreds of millions in fee income [...]
KPMG will halt non-audit work on FTSE 350 clients in wake of Carillion November 8, 2018 KPMG is set to become the first of the so-called Big Four to cease all non-audit work for FTSE 350 clients in the wake of Carillion. The auditor will stop providing all but some essential non-audit services for the 90 FTSE 350 customers whose accounts it audits, it has told 625 UK partners in a [...]
Ban auditors from immediately selling new services to outgoing clients, says sector body November 6, 2018 Accountancy firms should be banned from immediately selling other services to lapsing audit clients, an industry body has said. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has told regulators they should consider introducing a “cooling off” period of two years, in which auditors are banned from the lucrative practice of selling additional products to firms [...]