Global Citizen

UK MP’s order break-up of Big Four accountancy firms

The “Big Four” accounting firms should be forced to legally separate their “cash cow” consulting work from their auditing businesses.
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LONDON — Failures of the Big Four UK accounting companies, PWC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG have brought them under the scrutiny of Parliament in the UK. It follows the collapse of construction company, Carillion which was audited by KPMG and cost UK taxpayers an estimated £148m in government contracts. PWC also came in the firing line after it audited the accounts of retailer, BHS before it collapsed and was sold for £1 and the government was forced to take over the company's pension scheme. The UK's fifth biggest firm, Grant Thornton is also facing a probe following a £94m black hole in the books of baking chain, Patisserie Valerie. The latest report by the UK legislators goes further than the recommendations by the industry's UK watchdog. They say that "milking the cash cow of consultancy business" has hindered high-quality audits. In South Africa, the role of KPMG in state capture and the Guptas has led to the removal from the register of former KPMG partner Jacques Wessels, who infamously got taxpayers to pay for the Gupta wedding at Sun City. South Africa's Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors, Bernard Agulhus told CNBC that they were supportive of what the UK is doing and have been in contact with the UK regulators. Agulhus said the UK was interested in the mandatory audit firm rotation that South Africa had introduced. The deadline for South African firms to adopt this is 2023 and 17% of JSE-listed companies have already implemented the measure. – Linda van Tilburg

By Thomas Beardsworth and Jonathan Browning

(Bloomberg) – The "Big Four" accounting firms should be forced to legally separate their "cash cow" consulting work from their auditing businesses, a UK Parliament committee said Tuesday.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, EY and KPMG – which between them control more than 90% of UK audits for large companies – should make a "full legal separation" of their auditing and consultancy work, according to a 100-page report from the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee. Lawmakers had dozens of recommendations, including an absolute cap on the market share of the Big Four, and making senior company management liable for mistakes in their financial reports.

"We are not confident in relying solely on the integrity of auditors to do the right thing in the face of conflicting interest," the report said. "For the big firms, audits seem too often to be the route to milking the cash cow of consultancy business."

Parliament, while preoccupied with negotiating the country's exit from the European Union, was jolted into action last year by high-profile corporate collapses such as building contractor Carillion Plc and bakery chain Patisserie Valerie Holdings Ltd. Accusations that auditors missed red flags and questions over how the industry is regulated led to plans for the abolishment of the Financial Reporting Council. It will be replaced with a watchdog that can issue stronger punishments for failure.

'Heavy handed'

The lawmakers' report goes further than the initial recommendations proposed by the UK antitrust regulator, which has the power to force through the changes. The Competition and Markets Authority said in December a split should only take place at an operational level, holding off on calls for a full structural breakup or a cap on an auditor's market share.

"The benefits of a separation are large, and in our judgment, worth incurring significant costs," the lawmakers said in the report.

A UK business lobby group said the proposals to force a breakup were "heavy handed."

"The UK's position as a stable, evidence-based country is already under threat," said Josh Hardie, the deputy director of the Confederation of British Industry. "So rushing to simplistic measures rather than following a clear, considered long-term approach will damage our reputation further."

The committee also suggested that the largest British companies should have joint reviews – a proposal that has been strongly resisted by the Big Four. Two auditors should sign off on the accounts, with at least one being from a smaller firm outside the top tier, according to the report.

Separately, the FRC said it had started a review of KPMG's governance, controls and culture within the company's audit practice. The regulator has been reviewing KPMG over potential failures with the Carillion audit.

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