ChuoAoyama PricewaterhouseCoopers, the disgraced and suspended Japanese auditing firm, has suffered further embarrassment after it was revealed that at least 116 listed companies have decided to break ties with it.

A further 400 companies had yet to decide what action they would take, a poll taken by Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun revealed.

The decision by the companies to leave the firm follows an order by the Japanese Financial Services Authority for ChuoAoyama to suspend part of its operations following its work as auditor at cosmetics company Kanebo.

The order, which took effect Saturday, prevents the company from auditing listed and other large companies that are legally required to have their books audited.

It affects some 2,300 ChuoAoyama clients.