The Auditing Practices Board (APB) has appealed for comment from interested parties following a report from MPs calling for a ban on audit firms conducting non-audit work for the same companies. It has issued a consultation paper to seek views 'especially from investors, on whether there is support for the Treasury Select Committee's view that investor confidence and trust in audit would be enhanced by a prohibition on audit firms conducting non-audit work for the same company'. The select committee report, produced last May, principally concerned the banking crisis and how to reform corporate governance and pay in the City. The consultation paper does not address issues specific to individual non-audit services. APB chairman Richard Fleck said: 'The question of whether restrictions should be placed on the non-audit services that auditors can provide to the entities they audit was a key issue at the time of the Enron debacle in 2002. 'Since then there have been a number of developments, including greater involvement by audit committees in overseeing what non-audit services are provided, greater transparency on the fees paid for non-audit services and the issuance by the APB in 2004 of Ethical Standards for Auditors, which prohibit a number of non-audit services from being provided in certain circumstances.' Comment is invited by 29 January 2010.