It is a pleasure to announce the availability of my new book -- "DOA: Can Big Audit Survive the UK Regulators?" -- now available in paperback and e-reader versions through Amazon -- here.
To summarize the story, which is little enough comprehended even in the United Kingdom, and both seriously under-reported and much misunderstood in the United States and elsewhere:
"The collapse of Arthur Andersen in 2002 reduced the large accounting networks to the Big Four – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC. Can they survive, in a model fit for purpose?
"Public criticism and the hostility of regulators and politicians are intense, especially in the United Kingdom since the January 2018 collapse of contracting giant Carillion. The debate is joined, the outcome is uncertain, and the consequences to the capital markets will be profoundly disturbing.
"The issues are complex: audit quality, the 'expectations gap,' competition and choice. Disruptive 'solutions' include breaking up the Big Four, stripping their people and services back to 'audit only,' and even nationalizing audit assignments.
"DOA surveys the background to the current UK environment, examines the possible actions, and assesses the doubtful prospects for beneficial change."
By its focus, in the current volatile British environment, on the political, regulatory and litigation risks that swirl globally around the Big Four, DOA is a sequel to the detailed scrutiny of these issues in my earlier and still-relevant book, "Count Down: The Past, Present and Uncertain Future of the Big Four Accounting Firms" (Emerald Books, 1st ed. 2015, revised and extended paperback edition 2017 -- also on Amazon).
The certainty of global implications for the continuing availability of assurance on the financial information of the world's large public companies, including the stability and viability of the Big Four themselves, makes broadly relevant the actions and decisions of the regulators and politicians in the UK.
I invite your attention to the examination in DOA of these important issues. Please share with friends and colleagues. Comments here via the Main page, and reactions and suggestions to me at [email protected], are invited and most welcome.