Emile Woolf

Emile Woolf

Emile Woolf FCA is a chartered accountant with a particular interest in forensic accounting. Until he recently retired, he was board director of Hyperion Insurance Group and is former executive part-time chairman of training company, EWA. In 1984, he  joined Kingston Smith, chartered accountants, as partner, where he went on to set up and head the litigation support (forensic accountancy) department until he retired from practice in 2012.

Audit / Woolf: bring back auditors’ personal responsibility

After two decades of no change, the audit profession must become personally responsible and legally accountable if it is to provide the levels of assurance demanded by investors, argues Emile Woolf FCA
30 Sep 2019

Audit / Woolf: enforce independence for real auditor reform

Until the issue of independence and ownership is resolved, any proposed audit market shake-up will remain a fanciful pretence, failing to satisfy investor expectations, argues Emile Woolf FCA
5 Aug 2019

Audit / Woolf: no improvement in standard of audit work

Auditors will never be able to fulfil their responsibilities until regulators ensure accounting rules are fit for purpose, while pressure from client companies has led to legacy misstatements and the Big Four audit firms simply set aside contingency for multimillion pound fines, says Emile Woolf FCA
6 Jun 2019

Audit / Woolf: fraud and the role of auditors

A string of frauds involving dubious financial transactions and invoice manipulation leaves Emile Woolf FCA questioning the role of auditors when facing fundamental decisions about materiality
2 Apr 2019

Audit / Woolf: will latest proposals really improve audit quality?

Emile Woolf FCA is sceptical that the latest raft of probes and investigations will be able to cure the problems with the audit market, when there are many parties to blame, not only the heavily criticised auditors, but also the companies providing the accounts
5 Feb 2019

Audit / Woolf: auditors need to go back to basics

A failure to reform the audit market means that the government is likely to take a hard line with audit firms and revive the principles of 'true and fair', warns Emile Woolf FCA
26 Nov 2018

Audit / Woolf: quality of audit work must improve for profession to change

Emile Woolf FCA explains why the only cure for the audit profession is to improve the quality of auditors work rather than endless fines and sanctions from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC)
2 Oct 2018

Audit / Woolf: when compliance and truth part ways in audit

Emile Woolf FCA ponders whether this is the beginning of the end for the impartiality of accounting and auditing
31 Jul 2018

Audit / Woolf: no limits on liability in audit

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) can introduce endless sanctions, but without true unlimited liability nothing will stop audit failures, says Emile Woolf FCA
30 May 2018

Audit / Woolf: time to make LLP partners accountable

Tackling the source of the ethical vacuum at Big Four audit firms is the only way forward and the current limited liability partnership construct does little to support accountability, says Emile Woolf FCA
20 Mar 2018

Audit / Woolf: it’s not about the money

The Financial reporting Council (FRC) needs to explore the potential impact of non-financial sanctions, such as reputational damage, for firms at fault for audit failures, argues Emile Woolf
23 Jan 2018

Audit / Woolf: testing time for FRC

Amid some strong criticism of the handling of the KPMG HBOS audit probe, Emile Woolf FCA questions the Financial Reporting Council's (FRC) independence 
28 Nov 2017

Audit / Woolf: when will auditors learn?

Emile Woolf FCA asks whether auditors have learned anything about the banking scandals, such as RBS, that have rocked business in the last decade
28 Sep 2017

Audit / Woolf: ethics should be paramount

A shortfall in ethics in the lastest round of Audit Quality Inspections (AQIs) from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and endless conflicts of interest are bad for the audit profession. Emile Woolf FCA takes aim at auditors and standards
3 Aug 2017

Audit / Woolf: time to grasp the nettle on partnerships

An overhaul of partnerships at Big Four firms is the only way to achieve real accountability, argues Emile Woolf FCA while suggesting that limited liability partnerships should be abolished and auditors should stick to auditing
28 Jun 2017
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