U.K. Government Promises Action on Audit Standards, Tax

The U.K. government promised to pass the legislation necessary for radical audit reforms that could see the Big Four forced to separate audit and consulting activities.

The government used the Dec. 19 Queen’s Speech to promise to “develop proposals on company audit and corporate reporting, including a stronger regulator with all the powers necessary to reform the sector. These proposals aim to improve public trust in business, following the three independent reviews commissioned in 2018.”

The reviews suggested the government make audit-market reforms, including:

• Forcing the big accounting firms to split their audit and consulting arms;
• Requiring large companies ...