Mazars welcomes Market Participants Group report

Mazars welcomes the Interim Report of the Financial Reporting Council’s Market Participants Group on ‘Choice in the UK Audit Market’, published today.

Mazars agrees with the report’s conclusion that the “package of provisional recommendations could result in individual market participants having greater incentives to act in ways that would, in the long term, lead to increased choice of auditors”.

David Herbinet, a member of the Market Participants Group and head of Public Interest Markets at Mazars LLP said: “It’s a welcome first step in promoting a more level playing field for the selection of auditors of larger listed companies.  Increasing competition and choice is essential.  We need a more dynamic and innovative market with service and audit quality at its heart.  With FTSE 100 auditors remaining in situ for 48 years on average and their FTSE 250 counterparts for 36 years, audit committees must find it hard to compare the merits of alternative firms.”

Mr. Herbinet went on to say: “Whether the potential of the reforms is realised in practice will depend on whether there is a wholehearted commitment to implementing them vigorously by audit committees, institutional investors, regulators and the audit firms themselves.  This is a once in a generation chance to create a more competitive marketplace for audits.  We must not squander the opportunity.”

In addition to audits being put out to tender at reasonable intervals, Mazars also believes there should be more active engagement by institutional investors on audit issues and that an independent study should be undertaken of the merits of joint audits, especially for FTSE 100 companies due to their critical impact on the stability of the capital markets.

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Louisa Howells
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