The Professional Oversight Board, part of the Financial Reporting Council, has today published reports on the Audit Inspection Unit’s (AIU) inspections for 2008/9 in respect of the following four audit firms:

• Grant Thornton UK LLP
• Horwath Clark Whitehill LLP
• KPMG LLP and KPMG Audit PLC
• PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

These reports are available on the Professional Oversight Board website at: http://www.frc.org.uk/pob/audit/firmreports0809.cfm  

The reports cover reviews of firm-wide procedures and individual audits primarily conducted by the AIU in the period from April 2008 to March 2009. The individual audits reviewed related to financial years ending between March 2007 and June 2008.

The Professional Oversight Board anticipates publishing further reports in December, along with an Overview Report which will summarise the activities of the AIU during 2008/9 and the principal findings arising from its inspections which auditors are expected to address going forward.

1. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the UK’s independent regulator responsible for promoting confidence in corporate reporting and governance. Its functions are exercised principally by its operating bodies (the Accounting Standards Board, the Auditing Practices Board, the Board for Actuarial Standards, the Financial Reporting Review Panel, the Professional Oversight Board and the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board) and by the FRC Board. The Committee on Corporate Governance assists the Board in its work on corporate governance.
2. The Professional Oversight Board contributes to the achievement of the Financial Reporting Council’s fundamental aim of promoting confidence in corporate reporting and governance. It has four main responsibilities:
   1. a statutory obligation to oversee the regulation of auditors by the recognised accountancy bodies;
   2. the monitoring of the quality of the auditing function in relation to economically significant entities;
   3. independent oversight of the regulation of the accountancy profession by the professional accountancy bodies;
   4. independent oversight of the regulation of the actuarial profession by the professional actuarial bodies. 
3. The Professional Oversight Board is independent of the accountancy and actuarial professions. Its members have wide experience of business and the professions, the public sector, accountancy, auditing and actuarial work. The Chair is Dame Barbara Mills DBE QC.
4. Press enquiries should be directed to Paul George, Director of Auditing, on 0207 492 2340 or to Andrew Jones, AIU Director, on 0207 492 2360.