Premium: Deloitte considers following EY and splitting auditing, consulting arms

After the Global Financial Crisis almost a decade and a half ago, many were calling for a restructuring of the obviously conflicted auditing profession. But as so often happens in such matters, lobbyists for the status quo ensured this sensible idea got buried in committees. 

Now, partly through costly exposure for its partners to fraud at Steinhoff and Tongaat, the suggestion of a split is being considered by Deloitte. The exclusive report below by our partners at the WSJ suggests the firm could follow fellow Big Four member EY by hiving off its audit practice.

Whether that would solve the real problem is a moot point. While firms still rely for payment from those they audit, the obvious conflict will remain. For instance, Steinhoff's fraud was due to Deloitte's inability to spot the real reason why CEO Markus Jooste insisted a small German firm audited the European operations.  

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