Six weeks after Commissioner Barnier's proposals for audit reform were so widely leaked, they were formally unveiled today without the expected dilution that many were expecting after the recent extensive lobbying efforts of the Big 4 Accounting firms, clearly the group with the most to lose.
All the original provisions - mandatory audit rotation; mandatory tendering; the separation of non-audit services; and pan-European authorisation and supervision - are still there. Mr Barnier told today's 'Times' : "There's not enough competition in the audit market, not enough transparency".
MSI Global Alliance (www.msiglobal.org), which includes amongst its membership mid-tier audit and accountancy firms in most of the EU member states, certainly welcomes the initiative of the European Commission to make proposals to create a more vibrant, open and less concentrated market for the audit of listed companies and to build trust in the independence of the audit profession.
After weeks of speculation and debate based on leaked documents, we really hope that this political debate will now lead to a package of measures that will inspire trust in the audit market through improved competition and greater choice. That has got to be good for businesses - and it has got to be good for firms that have often felt excluded by the muscle of the Big 4.
The challenge, now, is for all of us to reassure businesses that mid tier firms, particularly those that are part of international groups, do have the breadth of resources to service clients in areas which, in the past, have been the domain of the Big 4.
James Mendelssohn (jmendelssohn@msiglobal.org)
CEO, MSI Global Alliance
Recent Comments