The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has said it will investigate Big Four accounting firm KPMG over its audit of Rolls-Royce.
The inquiry follows news in January that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in London had reached an agreement, which saw the engine maker pay £671m in a settlement with authorities in the US, UK and Brazil.
A statement from the FRC said: “The Financial Reporting Council has commenced an investigation under the Audit Enforcement Procedure into the conduct of KPMG Audit Plc, in relation to the audit of the financial statements of Rolls-Royce Group plc for the year ended 31 December 2010 and of Rolls-Royce Holdings plc for the years ended 31 December 2011 to 31 December 2013.
“The decision to investigate follows the SFO announcement on 17 January 2017 of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) between the SFO and Rolls-Royce plc which relates to offences including conspiracy to corrupt and a failure to prevent bribery.”