Link: Sarbanes-Oxley special report
Research from mid-tier rival BDO Stoy Hayward showed that much work currently undertaken by Big Four firms, especially non-audit work, will be seen as a conflict of interest under Sarbanes-Oxley and the companies may be forced to abandon it to competitors. Research estimates PricewaterhouseCoopers alone has £370m of work at risk from Sarbanes-Oxley while KPMG and Deloitte & Touche could lose around £120m each.
A lot of this work will go to Big Four rivals but BDO expects some of this work may reach mid-tier firms as companies reassess how they buy their professional services.
Gervase MacGregor, the partner at BDO Stoy Hayward, which carried out the research, said: ‘I have seen large companies prepared to look outside the global firms, often because conflicts of interest take out half of the Big Four from consideration.’
Related reading
Crowe Clark Whitehill announces new CEO appointment
Nigel Bostock, managing partner of the top 15 firm’s London office for the past four years, has been appointed as the new CEO, effective 1 September this year
Which top firms need to improve audit practice?
The FRC has conducted research into the audit quality of the top six firms, with PwC coming out on top
Mazars appoints new corporate finance partner
Paul Joyce joins the firm as a partner and head of corporate finance in London. He has 12 years’ experience in mergers and acquisitions, and previously worked at Deloitte
Is inefficiency stealing your time and money?
How efficient are you in managing your time? Inefficiency often goes unnoticed, but the consequences are significant – you could be losing thousands of pounds in billable time
