ABI calls for end to Big Four dominance

News Article - 07 August 2009
Category: Business

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is calling for the country's leading accountancy firms to get rid of some of their clients in order to ensure they do not have a monopoly over the market.

According to the ABI, by building up too high a market share, this could be detrimental to both the companies themselves and their investors.

This comes after a report earlier this year, the dominance of the so-called Big Four - Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers - was damaging competition.

It said that these four companies audit 97 per cent of the FTSE 350.

The ABI, the trade association for the insurance industry, has long been opposed to the dominance of the Big Four in the market.

A spokesman for ABI today Reuters: "It should be clear to the large accounting firms that, if their share of the market is deemed to be excessive, they will be obliged to divest part of their business."

It added: "Companies should consider the need to rotate auditors more frequently and make sure they take all options into account when they do so.

"Investors need to make clear that they do not automatically expect companies to select an auditor from among the Big Four."

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