Telecom Italia takes 'Two Fingers' award.

Financial News, May, 2003

Auditor independence is all the rage in US and European government corridors. Their beef is that audit's independence may be undermined if the auditing firm is simultaneously selling lucrative consultancy services.Exhibit A in the case against compromised auditors? The fact that Andersen billed Enron $27m in non-audit fees and just $25m for the audit. Regulators in Washington, London and Brussels have looked to clamp down on this cross-selling, but are companies listening? Well, not really. Latest figures show that last year nearly 60% of European companies paid their auditors more in non-audit than in audit fees.

Some credit should surely be given to companies that not just ignore best practice advice but flout it with unbelievable disdain. The "Two Fingers"...

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