My previous contribution to this debate appeared in December 2018, in the very last print edition of Accountancy (see Auditors need to go back to basics). That article delineated the most basic reforms that would have to precede any return by Big Four firms to a credible financial reporting role – a role that has been all but destroyed by years of scandalously conflicted interests and neglected professionalism, resulting in numerous auditing and reporting failures.

When I wrote it, however, neither the Kingman review on the role of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) nor the preliminary report from the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) had been published.