SEC Accountant Warns U.K. Audit Reforms Could Erode Independence

Proposals to reform the audit industry in the U.K. as written need more work and could impair the independence and objectivity of auditors, according to the top accountant at the SEC.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chief Accountant Wes Bricker also said regulators must put the interests of investors first in comments May 2 at the Baruch College annual financial reporting conference in New York.

Several reports have been issued in recent months offering competing ideas how to improve auditing in the U.K. after a series of corporate collapses involving Carillion Plc and BHS Ltd. The latest from the U.K. Competition ...