Office of Fair Trading act on Lords recommendation to refer audit market to the Competition Commission

Responding to the OFT's decision to refer the  supply of statutory audit services to large companies to the Competition Commission, Lord MacGregor, chairman of the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee (EAC), said:

"I welcome the OFT's decision. One of the main recommendations of the Economic Affairs Committee's Report in March on "Auditors: market concentration and their role" was  that the OFT conduct an in-depth investigation into the audit market, with a view to a possible referral to the Competition Commission. The EAC did so because of the continuing dominance of the Big Four in the large-firm audit market and the failure of previous attempts to introduce greater competition."