PwC fined practically £1.8m over BT fraud audit failures

PwC has been fined virtually £1.8m for failing to correctly scrutinise the accounts of telecoms firm BT after a £500m accounting fraud had been uncovered at its Italian operation.

The accounting large didn’t act with the “requisite skilled scepticism” and didn’t get hold of “adequate acceptable audit proof” in its work on BT’s 2017 monetary statements, which needed to be adjusted by £513m due to the Italian scandal, based on the Monetary Reporting Council (FRC).

The UK’s accounting regulator additionally severely reprimanded PwC, which was paid £4.3m for its work on BT’s accounts, and Richard Hughes, the audit engagement associate on the agency. The FRC fined PwC £1.75m and Hughes £42,000.

“The respondents didn’t act with the requisite skilled scepticism [and] didn’t get hold of adequate acceptable audit proof,” the FRC mentioned in its 27-page remaining ruling revealed on Monday. “The respondents didn’t method the audit of BT’s remedy of the debt changes with the required skilled scepticism and so they didn’t adequately doc their audit work throughout the whole thing of the BT Italy changes.”

The 2017 scandal wiped virtually £8bn off BT’s market worth, prompted a restructure together with the axing of 4,000 jobs, and finally was an element that resulted within the departure of former chief govt Gavin Patterson as buyers misplaced confidence in administration.

The FRC additionally mentioned PwC and Hughes had not produced an audit that was comprehensible to 3rd events.

“The respondents additionally failed to arrange audit documentation that was adequate to allow an skilled auditor, having no earlier reference to the audit, to grasp the character, timing and extent of the audit procedures carried out,” mentioned the regulator.

Nonetheless, the FRC’s govt counsel mentioned its resolution didn’t imply that BT’s 2017 monetary statements have been misstated, that the £513m adjustment for Italy was mistaken or that the breaches it discovered have been “intentional, dishonest or reckless”.

The FRC fined PwC and Hughes £2.56m in relation to the audit of the 2017 accounts, however diminished this by 30% as a result of the problems have been raised by the events at an early stage.

“In figuring out the monetary affect of a serious fraud detected inside a enterprise, troublesome however vital points regarding acceptable accounting remedy and disclosures will have to be addressed,” mentioned the FRC deputy govt counsel, Claudia Mortimore.

“It’s critical that these are topic to sturdy audit in order that the customers of economic statements can believe that the monetary affect is correctly and precisely acknowledged in subsequent monetary statements. The sanctions imposed on this case, the place sure parts of the changes following a fraud weren’t topic to the required stage {of professional} scepticism, underscore this message and can function a well timed reminder to the occupation.”

PwC has been sanctioned 5 instances since 2018.

The FRC has beforehand fined PwC a complete of greater than £17m in relation to audit failings for shoppers Taveta, Redcentric, Kier Group and Galliford Attempt.

In 2020, PwC was the biggest accountancy agency within the UK with income of £3.5bn, of which £754m was for auditing companies.

“We’re sorry that points of this audit weren’t of the required normal,” mentioned a spokesperson for PwC. “We’ve got made vital funding in strengthening audit high quality lately, which has been recognised in improved high quality inspection outcomes. We stay dedicated to sustaining and constructing on this progress by way of the supply of persistently high-quality audits.”