UK: OFT provisionally decides that there are competition problems in the audit market

In a statement published earlier today - see here - the Office of Fair Trading announced that it had provisionally decided that there are competition problems in the audit market (e.g., features of the market that restrict, distort or prevent competition) which pass the statutory test for a referral to be made to the Competition Commission under Section 131 of the Enterprise Act (2002). However, the OFT has not decided whether it should exercise its discretion to make such a referral because it needs to consider further whether there is a reasonable chance that there will be appropriate remedies available to the Commission.

The Financial Reporting Council has welcomed the OFT's announcement, noting in a statement issued today - see here - that "it has become clear to us that the competition authorities are better placed than audit regulators to tackle competition concerns".