LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Britain's accounting watchdog said on Monday it had fined auditor PwC 1.75 million pounds ($2.12 million) after it failed to properly challenge UK telecoms group BT (BT.L) once a half-a-billion pound fraud was discovered in BT's Italian operations.
伦敦,8月8日(路透社)—英国会计监督机构周一表示,已对四大会计师事务所之一,普华永道罚款175万英镑(212万美元),原因为普华永道在审计英国电信集团的意大利业务中发现有5亿英镑的舞弊行为后,却没有进行适当质疑。
BT's full-year financial statement for the year ended March 31, 2017, had to be adjusted by 513 million pounds due to the fraud, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said.
财务报告委员会(FRC)表示,由于舞弊,英国电信截至2017年3月31日的全年财务报表不得不调整5.13亿英镑。
"The sanctions imposed in this case, where certain elements of the adjustments following a fraud were not subject to the required level of professional scepticism, underscore this message and will serve as a timely reminder to the profession," Claudia Mortimore, deputy executive counsel at the FRC, said in a statement.
"在本案中实施的制裁,舞弊后调整的某些要素未能达到所需的专业怀疑水平,本次案未能强调改信息且及时提醒业内人士关注。" 财务报告委员会的副执行顾问Claudia Mortimore在一份声明中说。
PwC said it was sorry that aspects of its audit of BT Group for the year ended March 31, 2017, were not of the required standard, adding the FRC had not found the accounts were misstated or that the sum of the BT Italy adjustments was wrong.
普华永道表示,很遗憾其对英国电信集团截至2017年3月31日的年度审计的某些方面没有达到规定的标准,并补充说,财务报告委员会没有发现账目有错报,也没有发现英国电信意大利公司的调整数之和是错误的。
"We have made significant investment in strengthening audit quality in recent years, which has been recognised in improved quality inspection results," PwC said.
"近年来,我们在加强审计质量方面进行了大量投资,这在质量检查结果的改善中得到了认可,"普华永道说。
The fine would have been 2.5 million pounds had PwC not admitted to the breaches and settled early.
如果普华永道没有承认违规行为并提前和解,那么罚款将是250万英镑。
Richard Hughes, the partner who led the BT audit, was fined 42,000 pounds, avoiding a 60,000 pound fine after admitting to the breach, the FRC said.
财务报告委员会说,领导英国电信审计的合伙人理查德·休斯被罚款4.2万英镑,在承认违规后避免了6万英镑的罚款。
PwC and Hughes also failed to have a sufficient trail of documents that would allow any experienced auditor to understand the nature, timing and extent of the audit procedures performed, the FRC said.
财务报告委员会说,普华永道和休斯也没有足够的审计轨迹(指用来进行审查的详细记录),使任何有经验的审计师能够了解所执行的审计程序的性质、时间和范围。