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The UK accounting regulator has discovered examples of exam cheating at audit firms after scandals in the US, Canada and Australia prompted it to probe the possibility of similar misconduct in Britain, according to the Financial Times.
The Financial Reporting Council said it wrote to the UK’s accounting professional bodies and the seven biggest audit firms in July “seeking information relating to the risk of exam cheating in the UK”, and published the letters on its website.
In a letter to the firms published on Wednesday December 21, the watchdog said the exercise had revealed “instances of cheating” but added that it did not believe the problem was systemic.
Sarah Rapson, executive director of supervision, said: “We remain pretty concerned about exam cheating. The audit profession is a position of trust and there’s an irony where you’ve got auditors seeking to cheat on ethics exams and that sort of thing.
“The profession therefore needs to be vigilant and to seek to continually improve the processes and controls in place in this area. The profession must also strive to maintain a culture of integrity in which the highest standards of professional behaviour are upheld. The FRC will continue to act to hold firms to account for any shortcomings that might be identified.”
