Big Four Still Dominate U.K. Large-Company Audits, Survey Shows

Moves to increase competition have failed to dent the Big Four’s auditing dominance, though smaller firms are showing signs of picking up higher-risk clients ditched by the biggest accounting firms.

“The Big Four have cornered the FTSE 100 market,” Steve Smith, research manager at Adviser Rankings Ltd, said in a phone call. He said that since May, the Big Four have audited every FTSE 100 company, the largest 100 companies on the Financial Times Stock Exchange. That’s the first time that’s happened in more than a decade.

Adviser Rankings figures released Sept. 2 showed a more even split of FTSE ...