‘Big four’ accountants face UK overhaul without breakup

Bloomberg

The Big Four accounting firms may have to split their operations into separate UK business units as part of a sweeping overhaul of the industry proposed by regulators that stopped short of the measures sought by some critics. The Competition and Markets Authority said audit work should be split from the much larger consulting business at an operational level, but held off on recommending a full structural breakup or a cap on auditor’s market share. A further report said the UK needed a tough new watchdog to prevent the failings of the past.
“The audit sector is beset by conflicts of interest, a confused sense of its purpose and a lack of competition,” said Rachel Reeves, a lawmaker who had previously asked the CMA to actively consider breaking up the largest auditors. “The dice have been loaded in the Big Four’s favor for far too long.”
Stung by a string of scandals at prominent British firms including Carillion Plc, the government demanded regulators set out reforms to roll back the dominance of the largest accounting firms, which are generally known as the “Big Four.” The industry has had a turbulent year, with record fines and reprimands. “These intractable problems may take some years to sort out,” CMA Chairman Andrew Tyrie said in a statement. “If it turns out that the proposals are not far-reaching enough, the CMA will persist until the problems are addressed.”
Separately the UK government said it agreed with a new report that the heavily-criticised Financial Reporting Council should be abolished and replaced with a new accounting regulator. The new watchdog, the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority, will have powers to investigate companies, their accounts and governance.
The FRC was accused of being to be too close to the firms it oversaw, especially Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PricewaterhouseCoopers. “I have sympathy with the view that the FRC has tended overall to take too consensual an approach to its work,” said John Kingman, who led a review of the regulator.
KPMG said the reports contained “constructive suggestions” while David Sproul, chief executive of Deloitte’s UK business, acknowledged that many had lost faith in the auditors. “It’s clear that trust and confidence in the role of the profession is not where it should be and we are supportive of change that enhances audit quality,” he said.
PwC also issued a statement pledging support for measures that boost public trust in the audit sector. The operational split envisaged by the CMA would allow for separate profit pools within the firms — ensuring that auditors are only paid for the audit work they do. Under the current structures, profits are drawn from the entire company.
Big Four avoided a full break up of accounting and consulting into separate companies as the CMA said such proposals would be “protracted and complex” because of the reach of the firms’ large international networks. The regulator said “drastic but harder to implement remedies” would need to be revisited.
Industry groups largely praised both reports. “The CMA has recognised the benefits of an integrated audit model and is right to ignore misplaced calls for a break-up of the major firms,” said Matthew Fell, chief UK policy director for the Confederation of British Industry. “At the heart of this reset must be a focus on tackling the expectation gap that is undermining trust in corporate reporting.”
To encourage more competition, the CMA said it currently preferred to have the largest companies require joint reviews — with two audit firms signing off on the accounts — rather than a market share cap on the auditors.
It’s not the first time that antitrust regulators have looked at the market power of big audit firms. Just four years ago, authorities ruled that UK corporations must re-tender audits every 10 years. The EU has also threatened to split off auditors’ consulting arms in recent years, before adopting watered-down proposals. The CMA said it would accept comments on the proposals until January 21.