LONDON, Feb. 6 / PRNewswire / – The UK’s audit commissioner has asked the top seven accounting firms to move forward with the separation of their audit and advisory services without waiting for a change in law.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) informed the companies that an operational separation was desired in order to improve audit quality and market stability.

In April last year, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recommended that conflicts of interest at EY, KPMG, PwC and Deloitte, the accounting firms of the “Big Four” that dominate the audits of large companies around the world, be resolved.

The FRC said Mazars, BDO and Grant Thornton had also received a letter setting out their expectations.

Regulators fear that companies may be tempted to avoid audits in order to get more lucrative advisory work. The CMA Recommendation needs legislation to make it binding, which is unlikely by the end of 2020.

The CMA proposed separate management, accounts, compensation, general manager and board of directors for the audit branch, but still allows auditors to draw on non-audit expertise from across the company.

However, it remains close to the legislature’s call to break up the Big Four, and the Commerce Department has yet to say whether it will put the recommendation into effect at a time when the government is interested in not undermining the UK’s competitiveness in financial services .

Claire Lindridge, the FRC’s director of oversight and oversight of audit firms, said the goal is to get the largest companies to operate more quickly than can be achieved by legislation.

“The focus of the FRC is on ensuring that accounting firms are focused on audit quality, with new guidelines on independence and financial transparency supporting this,” said Lindridge.

“We expect companies to put in place independent governance over their audit practice and ensure that their audit practice is adequately segregated from the rest of the company so that financial results are clear and transparent.”

This underscores the frustration of the FRC, CMA, and lawmakers over the pace of audit reform after three government-sponsored reviews that followed the breakdown of businesses at construction company Carillion, retailer BHS, and more recent questions about the audit at Patisserie Valerie cafe chain.

The CMA also recommended that most of the UK’s 350 largest publicly traded companies hire two accountants to conduct a joint audit, which means that both companies would be jointly liable.

The auditors say this is impractical and have come up with ideas for joint audits, with an auditor doing the lion’s share of the work while a “challenger” audits parts of a company.

The FRC has also reached out to top auditors to clarify how common audits could be put in place before legislation is passed.

The FRC itself is waiting for the legislature to convert it into a stronger regulator called the ARGA to push through the proposed reforms.

Reporting by Huw Jones, Editing by Elaine Hardcastle

The post UK watchdog asks high accountancy corporations to ring-fence auditing first appeared on DECKSAND FENCES DAILY.

Here is an unusual single family home with a view of Prospect Park, its own outdoor area and rare park slope features: a garage. The early 20th century brick and limestone house is located in the historic Park Slope neighborhood at 15 Prospect Park West.

The neo-Tudor style house is part of a couple that William T. McCarthy designed for the builder Walter Kraslow. Work on the two houses began in 1919, but according to Kraslow’s complaint to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a plumbers strike and delays in supplies meant a longer-than-planned construction plan. The two houses, both 20 feet wide, are separated by a driveway accessed through a Tudor archway. The limestone arch is repeated at the main entrance to number 15 and the house also bears heraldic lions that correspond to the theme.

Save this listing on Brownstoner Real Estate for price, availability and open house updates as they occur >>

It last changed hands in 1994 and was renovated by Porter-Clapp Architects the next year, records show. The single-family house has a fairly open first floor, which is optically dominated by another Tudor archway that connects the living room and dining room. There is a mix of slate and wood floors that extends through both rooms and leads to the kitchen in the back.

This kitchen is open to the dining room via a passage, and in the window area there is a breakfast bar with a stainless steel plate that matches the appliances. French doors give access to a rear deck, with steps leading down to the garden.

On the upper floors there are four bedrooms with a full bath per floor. While some of the bedrooms are carpeted, the others reveal the hardwood floors that are likely underneath.

A striking bathroom in black, white, and red is reminiscent of the Art Deco style, with an antique sink, chrome fixtures, and sleek tile. The other full bath shown has a bathtub that fits under frosted windows that look out onto the roof terrace on the top floor. This top floor could make a luxurious suite as it also has a bedroom and a walk-in closet.

The finished basement cannot be seen, but has another full bath, laundry and space for a home office and a media room.

A detached brick garage large enough for a car is at the end of the driveway next to the back garden. The house has updated mechanics and central air conditioning on the lower floors and mini-splits above to match the listing.

The property marketed by Compass’ Michael Franco and Miriam Richards is asking for $ 4.4 million. What are your thoughts?

[Listing: 15 Prospect Park West | Broker: Compass] GMAP

similar posts

Email tips@brownstoner.com with additional comments, questions, or tips. Follow Brownstoner on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook.

The post Park Slope Neo-Tudor Throughout From Prospect Park With Storage, Roof Deck Asks .Four Million first appeared on DECKSAND FENCES DAILY.