PwC has been fined a record \u00a35.1m by the UK\u2019s accounting watchdog for \u201cmisconduct\u201d relating to the audit of RSM Tenon, a professional services firm put into administration in 2013.<\/p>\n
The Financial Reporting Council said it had issued PwC with a \u201csevere reprimand\u201d and an initial penalty of \u00a36m, reduced to a \u00a35.1m following a settlement discount. The fine is the largest ever issued by the FRC.<\/p>\n
The watchdog also imposed a fine of \u00a3114,750 on Nicholas Boden, a PwC audit engagement partner, in relation to the collapsed group.<\/p>\n
The sanctions related to \u201cextensive\u201d misconduct, the FRC said, with five separate instances in the RSM Tenon audit in the financial year to the end of June 2011 highlighted by the regulator. These included misconduct around the accrual of bonus payments, determining amounts recoverable on contracts, the accounting for a lease and the calculation of goodwill of a subsidiary.<\/p>\n
The ruling is the latest in a string of actions taken by the UK watchdog against PwC and its \u201cbig four\u201d rival as part of its push to drive up audit quality.<\/p>\n
In 2013, RSM Tenon, then the UK\u2019s tenth biggest auditor by income fee and listed on the FTSE SmallCap index, was put into administration and sold to accountancy rival Baker Tilly after acquisitions left it saddled with heavy debts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe admitted acts of misconduct include failures to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence and failures to exercise sufficient professional scepticism,\u201d the FRC said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Proceedings against RSM Tenon\u2019s former finance director, Russell McBurnie, are still ongoing, the FRC said.
\n–
\nSource: Finance Times<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PwC has been fined a record \u00a35.1m by the UK\u2019s accounting watchdog for \u201cmisconduct\u201d relating to the audit of RSM Tenon, a professional services firm put into administration in 2013. The Financial Reporting Council said it had issued PwC with a \u201csevere reprimand\u201d and an initial penalty of \u00a36m, reduced to a \u00a35.1m following a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n