PETALING JAYA: The Audit Oversight Board (AOB) has flexed its regulatory muscles in a surprising way when it shortened the tenure of registration for three partners of two accounting firms from the usual one year to six months. Although by no means the harshest action that the board can take, this reduction of the validity period of registration serves notice that the work of auditors of large companies is indeed under greater scrutiny than before.
This measure came after the board's inspection last year of the country's six biggest audit firms PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst & Young, Deloitte, BDO and Crowe Horwath. Two of the three partners are from Crowe Horwath, while the third is from Ernst & Young. They were registered for six months instead of 12 because the AOB found certain shortcomings while reviewing the audit jobs in which the trio were involved as engagement partners.
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