Having highlighted last year that further work was needed in regards to auditor ethics, the Auditing Practices Board has issued a consultation paper and draft amendments to ethical standards for auditors. In particular, further amendments are being proposed on the rotation period for audit engagement partners, the rewards given to key partners involved in audits, the selling of non-audit services such as advisory or consulting work by those involved in the audit to their client, and the independence of the audit team from the company's internal auditors. Last December, the APB issued its Audit Inspection Unit reports, which reviewed the UK's seven biggest auditors and held particular concerns about an audit carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The remuneration rewarded to PwC tax partners involved in a client's audit came under scrutiny when it was revealed they were rewarded for selling non-audit services to their audit clients. In its report, the AIU said that PwC should improve its evidence of how rewards were given to partners linked to 'audit quality'. The same ethical concerns were raised at BDO Stoy Hayward, which was pulled up by the AIU after appraisals in which senior staff members were set the objective of cross-selling to their audit clients were uncovered. The audit watchdog is also proposing changing the partner rotation period from five to seven years on the largest listed companies, in order to 'help safeguard audit quality', according to its chairman Richard Fleck. Head of the APB Jon Grant, said that 'many of the arguments for and against a change in the rotation period for audit partners focused on audit quality,' Fleck has said that although the APB is not 'proposing many changes' to ethical standards at the moment, the issues are being addressed following last years' AIU report and condition in the current economic climate.