Last week, a British government oversight board announced that it is investigating services that a United Kingdom division of Deloitte and Touche provided to failed automaker MG Rover. The probe highlights differences between the regulation of non-audit services in the U.K. and the United States, and demonstrates how foreign auditors can be subject to the tougher U.S. restrictions.
The Accountancy Investigation and Discipline Board—which is the investigative and disciplinary body for accountants in the U.K., and is considered analogous to the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board—did not provide details of its investigation into Deloitte, other than to say it would examine audits of the 2003 accounts of MG Rover Group Limited and parent company Phoenix Venture Holdings Limited, as well as certain non-audit services provided by Deloitte.
