Le Big Four de l’audit sous le feu des critiques
La taille et la puissance des Big Four dans le domaine de l’audit financier et comptable continuent de faire peser le doute d’une concurrence déloyale. C’est ce qu’a dénoncé l’ancien vice-gouverneur de la Banque d’Angleterre, qui s’est positionné en faveur d’une scission.
texte de loi
L’ancien banquier central et l’actuel président du Systemic Risk Council – un groupe d’experts financiers et juridiques et anciens fonctionnaires qui défend l’intérêt public dans le secteur économique et financier – Paul Tucker, a déclaré que le Big Four posait des problèmes "profondément enracinés" suggérant que des conflits d’intérêts avaient diminué la qualité de l’audit mondial.
Les quatre plus grands groupes d’audit financier - Deloitte, PwC, Ernst & Young (E&Y) et KPMG - sont régulièrement soupçonnés ou sanctionnés dans le cadre d’affaires de réseaux de copinage. Pour rappel, le Big Four était anciennement le Big Five avant que le cabinet Arthur Andersen ne soit impliqué dans le retentissant scandale Enron.
Au début des années 2000, l’entreprise Arthur Andersen était inculpée après avoir détruit des "tonnes de documents" se rapportant à son client Enron. Le courtier américain spécialisé dans l’énergie avait procédé à des montages financiers complexes et dissimulait de lourdes pertes engendrées par des opérations spéculatives. Le cinquième acteur du Big Five ne s’était pas remis du scandale – quoi qu'Arthur Andersen & Co a été créé en mars l’an dernier pour relancer l’enseigne. L’ancien directeur général d’Enron condamné à 24 ans de prison est d’ailleurs sorti le 31 août dernier.
Et à l’intérieur du Big Four lui-même, les affaires ne manquent pas. En début d’année, le géant du BTP anglais Carillion faisait faillite quelque mois après que son auditeur KPMG décrivait sa situation financière comme irréprochable. En janvier également, un magistrat fédéral américain a jugé que PwC a été négligent lors de la faillite de l’américaine Colonial Bank : "PwC a violé les règles d'audit et n'a pas pris les mesures qui auraient pu détecter un système de fraude de 2 milliards de dollars ce qui a contribué à l'échec de la Colonial Bank." Si dans ce secteur, la confiance, la réputation et la crédibilité sont des actifs précieux, la solidité du consortium semble tenir moins à une expertise réelle et à des jugements fiables qu’au consortium lui-même. À eux quatre, les membres du Big Four ont dégagé l’an dernier un chiffre d'affaires de 145 milliards de dollars.
Et à Paul Tucker d’ajouter que "le problème c’est que les Big Four font du conseil et de l’audit. […] L’audit indépendant doit être l’un des piliers du capitalisme moderne". D’après un article du Financial News publié hier, "les commentaires de Tucker interviennent alors que le secrétaire britannique des Affaires étrangères, Greg Clark, a ordonné à l’autorité britannique de la concurrence de procéder à un examen approfondi de l’audit britannique". Car nombre de responsables politiques accusent les quatre sociétés de constituer un oligopole.
Au sein de l’Union européenne, rappelons pourtant que la Directive et le Règlement européens sur la réforme de l’audit est entrée en vigueur le 17 juin 2016. Elle a été initiée par le commissaire européen Michel Barnier "pour regagner la confiance des investisseurs" après la crise de la fin des années 2000, en instaurant un marché de l’audit plus ouvert et plus régulé. L’idée centrale était de rendre obligatoire une rotation des auditeurs tous les 10 ans, cette limite pouvant être portée à 20 ans si l’entreprise choisit de passer un appel d’offres au bout de 10 ans. Et à 24 ans dans le cas d’un joint audit, qui permet aux entreprises d’obtenir un regard croisé sur leurs comptes grâce à un co-commissaire aux comptes.
Du fait des délais définis, il faudra attendre quelque temps avant de voir les effets de la réforme européenne des métiers de l’audit. Et encore faut-il que les mesures soient réellement appliquées et surveillées au sein des Etats membres. Mais les efforts sont réels et dans le sillage de la réforme de l’audit, la norme comptable IFRS 9, entrée en application en janvier dernier, est une autre initiative internationale qui mérite d’être soulignée. Car les entreprises sont désormais tenues de mettre de côté les provisions pour créances douteuses de manière anticipée, plutôt que de le faire une fois que les pertes ont été subies.
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