Deloitte hit with record £15m fine over Autonomy audit
The FRC has announced sanctions against Deloitte and two audit partners following an investigation into its audit of software firm Autonomy.
The Big Four accounting firm, and two of its now former partners, Richard Knights and Nigel Mercer, were investigated in relation to their audit of Autonomy’s financial statements for 2009 and 2010.
Autonomy was bought for $11bn by Hewlett Packard (HP) in 2011 before it wrote off three-quarters of the firm’s value, claiming it had been deceived by its finances.
The FRC today ordered Deloitte to pay a record fine of £15m, plus legal costs of £5.6m as it severely reprimanded the firm. It added that the accounting firm had agreed to provide a “root cause” analysis of the reasons for its misconduct.
Knights has been excluded from membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales for five years and has been fined £500,000. Mercer has been fined £250,000 and received a severe reprimand.
An independent tribunal found that there were “serious and serial failures” with Deloitte’s audit.
The FRC’s executive counsel said today: “The identified failures to act with integrity, objectivity, scepticism and professional competence go to the heart of audit.”
A spokesperson for Deloitte said: “We regret that the FRC Tribunal has ruled that aspects of our audit work on Autonomy between 2009 and 2011 fell below professional standards required.”
“Our audit practices and processes have evolved significantly since this work was performed over a decade ago and we continue to transform our audit by investing in firm-wide controls, technology and processes.”
“We remain committed to playing our role in delivering change that embraces audit quality, improves choice and restores trust in the profession.”