Watchdog plans for audit sector shake-up set to draw backlash from businesses

Finance bosses at some of Britain’s largest FTSE companies are set to hit out at new proposals put forward by the UK’s competition regulator, it emerged this evening.

Plans by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to make publicly listed firms appoint two sets of auditors are expected to receive a harsh backlash from a membership organisation known as the 100 Group, according to Sky News.

Members of the group, which represents FTSE 100 finance directors and several major private companies, are said to be concerned about the costs that would come with the new joint audits system.

Such news comes a month after the CMA put forward proposals for FTSE 350 firms to have their books looked at by an accountancy firm outside of the Big Four firms of Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), in what would be a dramatic shake-up for the industry.

Pressure on the CMA has mounted during the last year after several high-profile auditing scandals, including the collapse of Carillion, that threw the spotlight on the UK’s major accountancy firms.

A spokesperson for the 100 group said this evening: "The 100 Group will shortly be discussing our position on the CMA proposals and, if we choose to, will respond directly to the CMA with our comments by the deadline of January 21."