JDS to investigate Semple members
The executive counsel to the Joint Disciplinary Scheme is to examine the role of ICAS members and member firms associated with shipbuilding company, Semple Cochrane plc.
The investigation, requested by ICAS following a report on Semple Cochrane, will include the auditors, advisers, directors and employees of members and member firms.
The ICAS report followed a public attack on the organisation by Malcolm Chapman, a member of ICAS and former non-executive director of Semple Cochrane, after the accounting body resisted an investigation into its members who knew the details of a controversial contract to refit a naval ship.
Chapman raised his concerns in a report submitted to ICAS 16 months ago, two days after resigning his post on the Semple Cochrane board. Up until that point no formal investigation has been launched and ICAS has to decide if there was enough evidence for such an inquiry.
In June this year, Semple’s board wrote off £1.67m on a contract with Babcock Rosyth to refit a naval landing ship, the Sir Belvedere. This announcement prompted a plunge in the company’s share price.
A review, conducted by Ernst & Young, found the group’s March interim results calculated by Deloitte and Touche of 23 March overstated by some £10m as a result of accounting errors, the majority of which related to prior years.
Links
Former Semple director slams ICAS
Deloittes resigns audit following accounting
‘Fundamental errors’ in ship fitter’s accounts