The number of US firms who have had the same auditor for more than 100 years has doubled what it was eight years ago, according to recent analysis from Ideagen.
Household names such as Coca Cola (103 years), Proctor & Gamble (134 years), Goodyear Tyres (126 years), and Goldman Sachs Group (102 years) are some of the 24 public companies listed in the IS who have kept the same auditors for more than a century!
PwC, Deloitte and EY are the auditors of choice for this exclusive centenarian club with eight, six and 10 long-term clients respectively.
Some firms, however, have recently broken their century-long ties, due to new auditing regulations in the EU, including energy giant BP and British finance company Lloyds Banking Group – which retained its previous auditor, PwC, for 153 years before being forced to rotate.
The switch is a result of new EU rules, brought in in 2016, requiring companies to change auditor every 10-24 years and conduct an audit tender process every 10 years. The thinking being that mandatory audit rotations would increase competition among auditors, providing a benefit to companies and improved audit quality.
Comparatively, the US has shied away from similar regulations. After considering the matter in 2014, Congress passed a law preventing the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) from implementing mandatory auditor rotations.
