BDO fined six and a half million pounds after senior manager fakes audit signatures

Embattled accountancy giant BDO has been struck with a £6.5 million fine by the Financial Reporting Council, following the exposure of fraudulent behaviour by one of its former senior managers. Amanda Nightingale, who served as a senior manager at BDO between 2015 and 2019, was found to have forged electronic signatures and fabricated audit evidence within Companies House reports. Her misconduct went undetected by colleagues over several years, leading to significant fallout for the firm.

The FRC’s investigation concluded that weaknesses in BDO’s internal controls permitted Nightingale’s dishonest actions to remain under the radar. The regulator noted that both John Everingham and Kevin Cook, audit engagement partners at BDO, had failed in their responsibilities, ultimately allowing the fraudulent practice to continue unchecked. Everingham and Cook received individual fines of £189,000 and £90,000 for approving the compromised reports.

Ms Nightingale was banned in November of last year from practising as an auditor for 20 years, marking one of the more severe rulings by the FRC in recent memory. The firm was also ordered to repay audit fees linked to the tainted reports. Jamie Symington, a senior figure at the FRC, criticised BDO’s standards, saying the firm’s admitted failings facilitated a prolonged period of dishonest conduct.

This penalty compounds ongoing troubles for BDO, which has come under criticism from both UK and US regulators regarding the quality of its audit work. Recent FRC inspections found that half of the firm’s audited reports were falling significantly short of expectations. Scrutiny has also mounted following BDO’s audit of the now-defunct First Brands, a US car parts group whose collapse inflicted losses on major international lenders.

Ranked as the fifth largest accountancy network in the world, trailing behind Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC, BDO is now under mounting pressure to restore trust in its auditing standards. The firm stated it has worked to remediate and strengthen its systems and controls and plans to continue refining its processes under regulatory supervision.