PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP's acquisition of consulting firm Booz& Co., completed this week, has U.S. regulators eyeing thepotential for conflicts of interest in the auditing industry —again.

The deal, one of the biggest by a major accounting firm inrecent years, has focused new light on an aggressive push by theindustry into more lucrative consulting work. The Securities andExchange Commission and the oversight board for auditors are takingnote, pledging to step up their scrutiny to prevent any impact onindependent audits.

“This is a problem that will not go away,” said James Doty,chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, whichwas set up in the wake of the Enron Corp. accounting fraud.

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Thought leadership on regulatory changes, economic trends, corporate success stories, and tactical solutions for treasurers, CFOs, risk managers, controllers, and other finance professionals
  • Informative weekly newsletter featuring news, analysis, real-world cas studies, and other critical content
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.