Medic terminates auditor
Big four accounting firm Deloitte & Touche has been dropped as the auditor of US medical products company Natus Medical.
The move followed the company’s acquisition of data systems provider Neometrics, which worked as a sub-contractor for Deloitte Consulting. The company may continue to provide services to Deloitte Consulting, and so Natus decided it would terminate its relationship with the auditor to prevent a conflict of interest. ‘Deloitte & Touche has served as our outside auditor for more than 10 years and we have appreciated their professionalism and competency,’ said Steven Murphy, Natus vice-president of finance.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is expecting more qualified accountants in the US to join audit committees following the introduction of new corporate governance requirements. Under Sarbanes-Oxley, at least one member of a public company’s audit committee is supposed to be a financial expert. PwC partner Bruce Blakley told a gathering of female accountants in San Diego: ‘Given the current movement of oversight and legislative issues, we as accountants are going to see more opportunities to participate as board and audit committee members.’