Big Four’s Stormy Spring Resurrects Fear About Audit Quality (1)

The Big Four accounting firms are having a familiar moment in the public eye, and it’s not a flattering one.

Auditors are tasked with reassuring investors that the companies they invest in are financially healthy, and warning them if they’re not. But auditing experts and critics are questioning whether Ernst & Young and KPMG, in particular, are focused enough on their core responsibilities of vetting the books of their corporate clients and protecting investors.

EY’s public struggles to split up its auditing and consulting arms have spotlighted tensions between the two sides of its business and whether separating them would ...