It has been a tough few months for the audit profession. Amid cries of oligopoly, conflict of interest and audit failure, the Big Four firms in particular have faced a barrage of criticism, despite regulators’ attempts to reform the larger listed company audit market. Now they face a swift re-run of the competition watchdog’s investigation into the audit market.

Competition, choice and quality – these were the three mantras that regulators and politicians aimed to address through the original UK and EU rule changes that came into full force in 2016. The measures enforced mandatory tendering and audit firm rotation, greater involvement of the audit committee, strengthened regulation, a cap on non-audit services fees and further restrictions on what an auditor can and cannot do for its audit client.