The government has made its strongest call yet for a competition review of the statutory audit market following increasing concerns about the dominance of Big Four auditors, despite no decision being taken by the competition regulator

In our monthly roundup of developments in audit and governance, FCA hauls up auditors over client assets, FRC fines Grant Thornton £4m for independence failings, Lords press Chancellor on Big Four competition review

There is a marked gender imbalance amongst audit teams working with the very largest companies in the US, after research from the CFA Institute found just 11% of the lead partners on Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 100 audits are women

The Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) have collaborated on a research study which aims to encourage closer working between the internal audit function and finance function in order to ensure effective governance

The gathering pace of technology means that machine learning and blockchain will soon make their presence felt at the top level of business, but there will still be a need for someone to hold the reins, argues David Venus FCIS

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is conducting a disciplinary hearing involving Douglas Morgan, a former finance director of Equity Syndicate Management Ltd (ESML), KPMG and a partner and former partner at KPMG, in relation to a long running investigation into financial reporting at a Lloyds syndicate

Next year’s introduction of a new corporate governance code is already having an impact on reporting in the FTSE 350 ahead of the January 2019 deadline, according to analysis by EY which found indications that companies are already starting to provide information in new areas like company culture

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has announced that KPMG and partner Richard Hinton have admitted misconduct in connection with client asset reports prepared for BNY Mellon entities in 2011, and are now facing potential sanctions

Environmental lawyers ClientEarth have reported four companies to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) over failures to address climate change trends and risks in their reports to shareholders, and have challenged their Big Four auditors to explain their approach

In a bid to kickstart the debate on the future of FTSE audit, mid-tier firm Grant Thornton is calling for the creation of an independent quango to appoint auditors for listed company audits to improve competition beyond Big Four audit firms

The High Court has ordered Sports Direct to release a bundle of documents requested by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) as part of its probe into the retailer’s 2016 accounts, marking the first time the regulator’s powers under the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016 (SATCAR) have been tested

The Chancellor has rejected calls from members of the House of Lords for a the break-up of the Big Four audit firms, saying that any decision to review audit market domination rests with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), reports Sara White