Business School Professor advises UK Competition Commission on Audit Market

Issued: Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:14:00 GMT

Professor Vivien Beattie advises UK Competition Commission after giving oral evidence to House of Lords inquiry.

In late 2011, following the House of Lords Economic Affairs Select Committee report on auditors earlier in the year, the Office of Fair Trading decided to refer the UK audit market to the Competition Commission. This was due to the excessive concentration in the market for large listed companies, with substantial barriers to entry in existence. The concern is that competition is compromised.

Professor Vivien Beattie, who has researched extensively into the audit market, is currently acting as an academic advisor to the Commission in this investigation. In this role, she has prepared a review of the relevant academic literature and offered comment on the research to be undertaken by the Commission itself. Professor Beattie was called to give oral evidence to the House of Lords inquiry in 2010 and published a research book on audit interactions in 2011 (Beattie V, Fearnley S and Hines T. Reaching Key Financial Reporting Decisions: How UK Directors and Auditors Interact, Wiley).