The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has released its latest figures showing that the “Big Four” auditors maintain their grip on the UK’s blue chip sector. The FRC figures show the Big Four, PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and Ernst & Young, audited the accounts of 99 of the FTSE 100 companies in August. Only one company in the blue chip index was non Big 4 audited – by BDO Stoy Hayward.

The dominance of the top firms raises concerns about fallout on listed firms if any of the major auditors got into trouble. Attempts to inject more competition into firms that check UK company books have basically failed despite a recommendations made three years ago to mitigate risks from concentration.

Paul Boyle, Chief Executive of the FRC, said:

“The FRC remains concerned about the significant uncertainty and cost which could arise in the event that one or more of the Big Four audit firms left the market. Regardless of the actions taken by market participants, this risk is likely to remain significant in the medium to long term. It remains to be seen whether market-led actions will prove to be sufficient to reduce this risk to an acceptable level.”