OFT questionnaire canvasses top FDs' views on big six mergers
The Office of Fair Trading circulated a questionnaire last week to the country’s top 100 FDs seeking their opinions on the proposed accountancy mega-mergers.
The OFT is responsible for co-ordinating UK submissions to the EC’s preliminary investigation into the mergers. As part of its research, the OFT sent out questionnaires to the One Hundred Group of Finance Directors. The group’s chairman Christopher Pearce, FD of Rentokil Initial, said the mergers were causing concern about reduced choice for auditing, advice and consultancy services.
With almost all of the UK’s top 250 firms audited by one of the Big Six, an OFT spokesman said it needed to seek their reactions to the merger proposals. ‘The questionnaires will gather as much information as possible to submit to the EC,’ said the spokesman.
