From the Big 8 to the Final Four

The International Corporate Governance Network's Accounting and Auditing Practices Committee sent a Statement of Concern on the Structure of the Audit Market to public officials. In the letter, the Committee expressed its concern that the current audit market lacks sufficient depth to provide high-quality auditing services to the world's largest corporations.

Global auditing firms decreased from the Big 8 a few years ago to just 4 firms today. Further, for large corporations who use Final 4 firms for tax planning, the choice of an auditing firm is limited even further.

The letter discusses the barriers to entry into the global accounting business, as well as the lack of transparency in the business due to the use of the partnership model.