Report shows Big Four stranglehold in U.K. near unavoidable
By 
Neil Hodge2020-12-02T21:10:00
A review by the U.K. Financial Reporting Council found large companies will instinctively hire a Big Four firm as auditor, despite efforts by the regulator to break their dominance and open up the country’s audit market to smaller competitors.
Related articles
-
ArticleU.K. audit breakup plan hits snag without Big Four support
The Big Four audit firms have refused to back a U.K. government plan to break their dominance of the market by forcing them to share work with smaller competitors to give them a foothold.
-
ArticleU.K. government proposals spell out Big Four breakup, new audit responsibilities
The U.K. government has unveiled proposals designed to end the Big Four accounting firms’ dominance of the region’s audit market while also making companies and executives more directly accountable—and liable—for failures in corporate reporting.
-
ArticleFRC pushes for clarity on audit’s role in finding fraud
The proposed changes reflect regulatory fears that U.K. companies will be tempted to hide the scale of their financial losses as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic continue to dent balance sheets.
More from Accounting & Auditing
-
News BriefPhoto gallery: Compliance Week Third-Party Risk Management Summit
Nearly 200 attendees gathered at the Hotel Zaza in Austin, Texas for Compliance Week’s 2025 June 3-4. This year’s conference brought together compliance professionals from across the globe to discuss how rapidly shifting politics, policies and supply chain realities are affecting their jobs, and share best practices to respond.
-
PremiumExperts explain why IIA's new global audit rules will be 'central' to securing high-quality assurance
Compliance teams should expect more support from their organization’s internal audit functions. That is the clear message from the Institute of Internal Auditors, the global body of national affiliated internal audit institutes, which has just put into action its new Global Internal Audit Standards.
-
PremiumChinese regulators impose six-month ban, $62M fine on PwC’s China unit
Chinese authorities banned PwC’s Chinese unit from performing audits in the country for six months, labeling the subsidiary’s flawed audit work as complicit in the failure of giant property developer Evergrande.