Accountants' Negligence and Liability

Accounting firms can be held liable for the full amount of losses of a collapsed company even if they are only partly to blame. Accountants' Negligence and Liability is the only title on the market to provide all the information needed fully to analyse potential liability in this field of practice. It covers statutory and non-statutory audits, tax advice, specified procedures reporting, due diligence reports and corporate finance reporting. It also looks at difficult legal issues including the scope of losses for which the accountant may be liable with detailed reference to case law as well as money laundering and regulatory issues. Limitation and contributory fault are considered with special reference to accountants' cases. The book is fully up to date, including discussion of the Audit Regulation and the Audit Directive coming into force in June 2016. Case law coverage is comprehensive. The authors have referred to every significant reported accountancy case in the English courts and included the most important commonwealth cases as well. There is full discussion of the difficult issues in this area of law including the recoverability of trading losses and the defence of ex turpi causa. The significance of Caparo v Dickman is fully explained, as is the controversy surrounding Galoo v Bright Graeme Murray. An original analysis is offered of the interaction of these cases with SAAMCO and of the controversial decision of the House of Lords in Stone & Rolls v Moore Stephens.

Simon Salzedo QC and Tony Singla, both of Brick Court Chambers