UK: POB annual report published

The Professional Oversight Board, part of the Financial Reporting Council, has published its annual report to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills for the year to 31 March 2010: see here (pdf). This reports on the Board's responsibilities and activities and largely reproduces information already published. However, two items are worth noting.

First, the Board concludes that certain aspects of regulatory activity at some recognised bodies gives it "significant concerns". Second, with regard to audit choice, the Board notes that the majority of the Market Participants Group's recommendations have now been implemented but there is limited evidence that they have had a significant impact on market concentration and the risks thereby arising.

UK: key trends in the accountancy profession - POB report

The Professional Oversight Board, part of the Financial Reporting Council, has published the eighth edition of its Key Facts and Trends in the Accountancy Profession report: see here (pdf). The report notes, for example, that:

Over the past six years, the Big Four have experienced a steady increase in the proportion of fee income from non‐audit work for non‐audit clients. In contrast their fee income from non audit work to audit clients has been falling".

UK: Audit Inspection Unit reports published

The Professional Oversight Board, part of the Financial Reporting Council, has published inspection reports by the Audit Inspection Unit for 2008/9 in respect of Grant Thornton UK LLP (here); Horwath Clark Whitehill LLP (here); KPMG LLP and KPMG Audit PLC (here); and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (here). In general, the reports indicate that audit procedures were being performed to a good or acceptable standard in the audits surveyed. Nevertheless, in several of the audits reviewed the AIU identified the need for improvements in the obtaining and/or recording of audit evidence.