ASIC: Third of Surveyed Auditors Likely Breached Requirements

A review of Australia’s auditing industry has found a number of likely breaches in rules governing independence and conflict of interest obligations, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission says in report Tuesday.

• The corporate watchdog reviewed 48 auditors and 19 audit firms. Of those, 15 auditors were “found to be in likely breach of rotation requirements, relationship prohibitions or providing a prohibited non-audit service.”
• “Unfortunately, our review found that many auditors failed to meet the basic independence requirements, and others failed to identify and critically evaluate potential threats to their independence,” ASIC Commissioner Kate O’Rourke says in statement
• Nine ...