Auditors have been given a boost in their campaigns to win a liability cap to safeguard against catastrophic claims, revealed a report.
Jonathan Symonds, chairman of the FTSE 100 group of finance directors, said auditors should be given some form of liability cap.
The UK operations of the big four global accounting companies, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PwC, are lobbying ministers because they claim one or more of them could be wiped out by litigation from directors, shareholders and others, said the report.
Pointing out that the big four sometimes have to decline work due to conflicts of interest, Symonds said: "Four major auditing firms is uncomfortable few. One less would be a disaster."
He said auditors should not escape liability for negligence, but should not pick up the tab for failures by directors, which the report said was possible under current UK law.
Symonds said he supported a cap that could be based on a multiple of fees paid by a company to an accounting firm.
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