Brussels, 17/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - Couls this be the end of the Big Four's gravy train? Agreement was reached on Tuesday 17 December between the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament on reform of auditing rules, which are now rather different from those initially suggested by the Commission. Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier insisted on changes to boost competition because auditing is dominated by the Big Four (PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and EY). He suggested compulsory rotation of auditors every six years, but the final agreement was for compulsory rotation every ten years. Auditing mandates can, however, be renewed once, following a call for tender. Barnier said that, despite the fact that the rotation is longer than suggested by the Commission, rotation will have a major impact in terms of reducing excessive familiarity between auditors and their clients and will boost auditors' professional scepticism. He said he was not delighted with the compromise, but fundamental measures have been approved to boost the independence of the legal controllers of accounts, particularly the auditing of banks and limited companies, which will make a vital contribution to economic and financial stability. It will no longer be possible to select auditors solely from among the Big Four. To avoid conflicts of interests, auditors will not be able to provide any consulting to audited clients and revenue from other consultancy will be capped at 70%. Final approval of the deal is expected over the next few weeks. (MD/transl.fl)