Over half of US businesses facing financial problems go ‘opinion shopping’ for auditors to try to override unfavourable going concern opinions at the expense of auditor independence and investor interests, a US study has found

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has fined MSR Partners (formerly Moore Stephens LLP) and Stephen Corrall, audit engagement partner, in relation to an audit of fashion and homeware retailer Laura Ashley, which the regulator said was  ‘deficient in numerous respects’

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has fined KPMG £5m, severely reprimanded the firm and imposed additional requirements on its auditing of credit institutions for the next three years, for misconduct in its audit of the Co-operative Bank in 2009

Despite nine Companies Acts in the 20th century, and numerous reviews, nothing has changed to prevent audit failure. Instead of changing the law, David Duvall argues for a change in cultural mindset to overturn auditor complacency and lack of management scrutiny, and clamp down on excessive dividend payments

Multinational mining giant Anglo American has hired PwC as its new external auditor, taking over from Deloitte which has been in post for 19 years

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) is planning to simplify the use of   International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) for the auditing of less complex entities

In the wake of the BEIS committee report on the future of audit, Mark Wearden, director of MBS Governance, questions whether a one-size-fits-all approach to audit committee regulation will tackle expectation problems and improve effectiveness and oversight

The National Audit Office (NAO) has published guidance for audit committees on cloud IT services and their use in government, with suggested questions to ask at planning, implementation and management stages

Big Four firm KPMG has been fined £6m by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) following a long running investigation by the regulator into misconduct in the firm’s auditing of a Lloyds syndicate

In this month’s audit updates, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) sets out radical reform proposals including mandatory joint audits, Brydon review launches audit process consultation, the future of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), review of KPMG’s audit practice, sanctions for Grant Thornton and Baker Tilly, and audit switches at Mothercase and French Connection

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is to hold a disciplinary tribunal next month to decide the sanctions to be levelled on KPMG and partner Richard Hinton in relation to their acknowledged failures in the auditing of the Bank of New York Mellon

Deloitte has resigned as auditor of FTSE 250 Swiss mining group Ferrexpo with immediate effect, citing concerns about possible ‘discrepancies’ in bank statements relating to the company’s charitable donations under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme and its delays in setting up an independent forensic investigation

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Indianapolis-based Celadon Group with a $20m (£15.5m) accounting fraud

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI), which has become mired in controversy over a €100,000 (£86,000) loan made by its chief executive to the association, has announced its entire board has resigned after its auditor, Deloitte, raised concerns about its accounting records

Auditors from Deloitte have issued a qualified opinion on the annual results from Ferrexpo, a Swiss headquartered iron ore company with assets in Ukraine, over concerns about possible ‘misappropriation’ of corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds