Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Watchdog calls for UK's big four accountancy firms to be split up
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/apr/18/watchdog-calls-for-uks-big-four-accountancy-firms-to-be-split-upWatchdog calls for UK's big four accountancy firms to be split up
The “big four” accountancy firms could be partially split up and forced to work with smaller rivals, under proposals made by the competition watchdog following a number of corporate collapses including the demise of Carillion and BHS.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) resisted calls for the breakup of the big four – PricewaterhouseCoopers, EY, Deloitte and KPMG – but said this option could be revisited within five years if the profession does not improve.
Instead, the CMA’s final report following its review of “serious competition problems” in the sector recommended that the government pass new laws forcing accounting giants to put greater distance between their audit divisions and their more lucrative consulting operations, to prevent conflicts of interest.
It also called for firms to be forced to hire smaller “challenger” auditors to analyse their books alongside the big four, in an effort to stoke competition. But it said the largest, most complex companies should be exempt from this requirement.
(snip)
