The US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ‘s (PCAOB’s)  latest inspection report on KPMG is critical of  the firm’s failure to collect sufficient evidence to arrive at an adequately supported audit opinion, while the US regulator is also concerned about its slow response to addressing quality control issues raised during previous inspections

Grant Thornton has set up a dedicated local government advisory practice which will focus on providing consultative services to local authorities, police bodies and fire and rescue authorities

Audit fees for local public bodies are now at a 25-year low, and the government is set to save up to £440m by extending current contracts until 2020, rather than the 2017 cut-off, according to the Audit Commission

The Local Government Association has formed a new company to oversee outsourced local audit contracts once the Audit Commission is abolished next March, which will be a transitional body tasked with appointing auditors, setting audit fees and managing audit contracts until the new arrangements are in place

KPMG is to take over as auditors to Royal Mail from next year, ending EY’s 28-year relationship with the postal services company, after the company acknowledged that changes in the audit market with respect to best practice meant a review was required. 

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published the final order that will put into action its remedies for major changes in the UK statutory audit market for large companies to encourage greater competition, which had been delayed pending changes to EU regulation in this area

KPMG is challenging its listed audit clients to include broader qualitative commentary in their annual report by giving details of auditor findings, as part of a move to increase transparency and improve trust in the audit process

In the week the new corporate governance code has tightened up the rules about devising and reporting on remuneration policies, the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has named eight companies that have failed to take seriously shareholder concerns on pay

ICAEW member Paul Newsham has been excluded from the profession for three years and the firm where he was a former partner, HWCA, has been fined £500,000 by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) after an investigation into failures relating to the audit of the Worthington Nicholls Group