A report from the Securities and Exchange Commission published yesterday concluded more than half of PwC partners in the US were in breach of independence regulations – many for possessing shares or investment interests in audit client firms.
The proposed flotation of KPMG’s consultancy arm in the US remains before the SEC for consideration and approval but a spokesman said the company remained confident the plans would not be joepardised by conflicts of interest.
‘The SEC is concerned about independence of auditors. We are still in discussion with the SEC and providing them with information when they require it.’
He said the firm had no concerns about ‘independence’ issues at the moment.
The SEC report summarises the result of an internal investigation at PwC commissioned by the SEC but supervised by an independent consultant.
Conclusions show 1,301 out of 2,698 partners self reported a violation of rules, with an average of five violations by each. Additionally, 153 partners had more than ten breaches. In total there were 8,064 infractions over a two year period involving almost 2,000 individuals.
SEC conflict of interest report on PwC could signal start of global clampdown