PwC’s $5.8 Million Fine Gives Fresh Ammunition to Audit Critics (1)

PricewaterhouseCoopers was handed a 4.55 million-pound ($5.8 million) fine by the U.K.’s accounting watchdog over failings in its handling of technology firm Redcentric Plc, giving fresh ammunition to critics calling for a breakup of the so-called Big Four audit firms.

The penalty was reduced from 6.5 million pounds after the firm admitted its wrongdoing ahead of a final decision by the Financial Reporting Council. Two PwC partners, Jaskamal Sarai and Arif Ahmad, were each fined a reduced 140,000 pounds after admitting breaches in the standards of their work, and were also given a “severe reprimand.”

The breaches were “numerous and ...