Securities Regulators to Examine Private Equity’s Audit Impact

A global body representing securities regulators plans to explore how private equity ownership of accounting firms across the US and Europe could support or hurt audit quality.

Factors the group plans to evaluate include how well existing audit safeguards offset new risks that third-party ownership pose to firm independence and governance, the International Organization of Securities Commissions said Monday.

• The group, known as IOSCO, outlined the effort in its 2026 agenda as part of a broader initiative to track private market growth. Financial market regulators from more than 130 jurisdictions are among the group’s members.
• Outside capital could create new ...