Ahold: Dutch regulator to look at Deloitte
Following the massive accounting hole uncovered in it audit client Ahold, the Dutch self-regulatory body is to look at the role of Deloitte at the supermarket giant.
Link: Ahold auditors stand by work
While stressing that no formal investigation had yet been undertaken, the Royal Netherlands Institute of Registered Accountants said it was looking into the matter, according to a report in the FT.
The 2001 accounts of Ahold were signed off by Deloitte, which said it had carried out the audit based on information made available to it.
The firm has already said it alerted the management of Ahold to accounting irregularities for the 2002 year and Ahold has already begun an investigation of its US distribution company, instigated by its audit committee.
But already, the impact of the Ahold scandal could have a wider implication for both Europe and the Netherlands.
The RNIRA is in discussion with Netherland’s chief financial watchdog, the Netherlands Authority for Financial Markets, about changes to the oversight of auditors, while the US has used the scandal as evidence for its demands that non-US audit firms be subject to American regulation.