PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata, the Japanese firm which was set up the Big Four firm after ChuoAoyama PricewaterhouseCoopers had its audit license, has vowed to take on the country’s established firms.

Its newly appointed chief executive said the company has adopted an expansion plan that would see it increase its work force to about 1,700 by 2010, largely through recruiting mid-career accountants.

‘We plan to increase the number of our staff by 20% annually to expand our business," Hideo Takaura, told The Asahi Shimbun.

ChuoAoyama had its audit license suspended for two months in May by Japan’s Financial Services Agency and only resumed full operations last week under the name Misuzu Audit Corp.

The punishment was imposed because of the company's involvement in Kanebo Ltd.'s falsification of financial statements.