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I suppose it won't be going against the grain on a legally focused website, but the idea of consolidating more power in the big 4 is ludicrous.

I am probably (well) behind the times, but I've only woken up relatively recently to just how much the accountants/auditors escaped scrutiny for the financial collapse. More recently, again and again we see massive auditing failures, with apparently healthy firms collapsing overnight (literally in some cases) having sailed through audits.

The conflicts already in place between the competing consultancy and auditing work are impressive to say the least. As others have said, adding legal work into the mix will (obviously) cement this rotten situation.

Private Eye also makes depressing reading on all this, including for example secondments from the accountants to HMRC; the same firms and people are advising HMRC on how to make rules and then immediately advising clients on how to avoid those rules...