New perspective: Sarbanes-Oxley

Although the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is a piece of US legislation, it is changing the face of audits and the allocation of work across professional firms in the UK. And about time too, says Gervase Macgregor , Head of Forensic Accounting at BDO Stoy Hayward.

Gervase Macgregor is BDO Stoy Hayward LLP’s Head of Forensic Accounting, tel: +44(0)20 7893 2570, email: gervase.macgregor@bdo.co.uk

There are some people who believe the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to be an overreaction to a series of high-profile corporate scandals led by the collapse of Enron. In my opinion, it is a much needed and welcome development. It is time for a more investigative approach to audits and for audit fees to be charged at their true rate. It is also time for separation between the audit and consultancy work, particularly valuations, forensic accounting, tax advocacy and management consulting.