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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Taxpayers to foot £65m bill from Carillion redundancies September 25, 2018 Taxpayers are set to cough up £65m in redundancy payouts following the collapse of outsourcer giant Carillion. The liquidated construction services company, which bucked under the weight of a £1.5bn debt pile in January, has so far paid out £50m of the total £65m after thousands of workers were made redundant. The figures also [...]
Audit’s perfect storm: How bean counters found themselves at the centre of a public uproar October 21, 2018 On the the surface, there is little reason for audit to get the blood pumping. The reality, however, is quite different, and threatens to present the sector’s biggest players – sprawling multi-nationals used to finding that all news is good news when you count the beans – with the toughest challenge they have seen in [...]
Patisserie Valerie enters administration after bank talks fail January 22, 2019 Patisserie Valerie collapsed into administration this evening after discussions with its lenders fell apart following the shock revelation of “significant fraud” at the high street cafe chain. Chairman Luke Johnson had been scrambling to come to an agreement with creditors to secure a cash lifeline after posting an update to the market last week admitting [...]
Grant Thornton hit with £3m fine for Vimto audit failures August 29, 2018 Accountancy firm Grant Thornton has been fined £3m for misconduct in the auditing of the owner of soft drink Vimto and the University of Salford. Regulator the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) fined Grant Thornton and four of its senior auditors for what it said were “widespread and serious inadequacies”. The fines relate to the audits of [...]
PwC faces record-breaking £10m fine over poor BHS audit June 12, 2018 Big Four accountancy giant PwC has been slapped with a record £10m fine from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) for its work auditing retailer BHS prior to its sale for £1. The PwC partner who conducted the audit, Steve Denison, is also facing a personal fine of £500,000 from the FRC relating to his work [...]
PwC faces record-breaking £10m fine over poor BHS audit June 12, 2018 Big Four accountancy giant PwC has been slapped with a record £10m fine from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) for its work auditing high street retailer BHS, prior to the chain's sale for just £1. The PwC partner who conducted the audit, Steve Denison, is also facing a personal fine of £500,000 from the FRC relating [...]
Big Four firm KPMG has been slammed by Britain’s accountancy watchdog June 18, 2018 Big four accountancy firm KPMG was slammed this afternoon for the “unacceptable deterioration” in the quality of its audit work. The industry’s watchdog, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), said the firm, which audited Carillion before its collapse in January, will now face increased scrutiny. Half of KPMG’s FTSE 350 audits are “in need of more [...]