Big Four dominance ‘dangerously high’
Mid-tier firm slams Big Four dominance of audit market
A report by Grant Thornton
has laid into the Big
Four’s dominance of global audit markets which the firm says is ‘dangerously
high’.
The mid-tier firm quoted its own research which found that in the world’s
eight largest economies, the Big Four are responsible for up to 99% of large
public company audits.
‘By failing to select non-Big audit firms, the world’s largest public
interest entities have, in recent years, fed a systemic risk inherent within
international capital markets which is now so pronounced that in the event of
the Big Four becoming a Big Three, international markets could fall into
disarray,’ claimed Steve Maslin, head of external professional affairs at Grant
Thornton UK.
Analysis of auditor concentration among the
G8
economies revealed a high of 99% in Italy, followed by the UK (98%), the US
(97%), Canada (96%) and Russia (90%). Japan revealed a lower auditor
concentration of 84%.
Further reading:
Europe demands audit liability reform
Deloitte boss says global standards convergence far off