The domination of the Big Four has led to calls for the creation of a new competitor. David Grunberg, founding partner of Grunberg & Co, looks at the consortium approach of mid-tier firms to create a Big Five firm to increase audit competition 

In our monthly roundup of developments in audit and governance, PwC slated for ‘misleading’ BHS audit, revised Corporate Governance Code, Grant Thornton cleared of misconduct over Globo audit, auditing accounting estimates standard to be revised

The 2018 Corporate Governance Code includes a raft of changes, including a provision to encourage greater board engagement and the nine-year rule for directors on the company board, but will it be able to prevent corporate failures? Amy Austin, reporter at Accountancy, investigates

Grant Thornton has been fined £4m and reprimanded for misconduct by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in relation to a lack of independence in the audits of Nichols plc and the University of Salford, with additional sanctions for a former senior partner and three former senior statutory auditors

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has fined KPMG £3m and issued a severe reprimand for ethical failures in its auditing of fashion retailer Ted Baker, while Michael Barradell, senior statutory auditor and audit engagement partner, has been given a reprimand and a fine of £80,000

Auditchain, a blockchain-based auditing system, will soon be launched for use in the audit sector to prevent fraud or error through a distributed network of accountancy professionals

As audit governance faces harsh criticism, Sarah Perrin ACA considers the use of internal audit and asks whether the increasing tendency to outsource this function is diluting the effectiveness of the process or introducing a level of independence

Following publication of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) report on PwC’s 2014 audit of BHS and Taveta, the work and pensions select committee has challenged Sir Philip Green to publish the basis for the ‘going concern’ assessment which is central to many of the regulator’s criticism

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has finally made public an excoriating report on PwC’s audit of BHS which describes the firm’s reporting as ‘incomplete, inaccurate and misleading’ and reveals the senior audit partner recorded only a handful of hours’ work on the retailer’s accounts shortly before it was sold for £1

EY is to plough an additional $1bn (£784m) into new technology solutions, client services, innovation and the firm’s ‘ecosystem’ over the next two financial years

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) needs significant changes in its governance, powers, culture and ways of working if it is to operate successfully in the post-Brexit landscape, ICAEW has made clear in its response to the current review of the regulator conducted by Sir John Kingman

Embattled department store House of Fraser, which called in EY as administrators earlier today, has been sold for £90m to Sports Direct International in a deal which sees Mike Ashley's company acquire all its UK stores, the brand and all of the stock in the business