External audit firms cleared of pre-crash failures

A major report has cleared the external audit firms of any substantial failings in the audits carried out of the banks here on the eve of the financial crash in 2008.

It says that the accounting and auditing standards in use at the time were “found wanting”.

Quality of the audits of the banks by the ‘Big Four’ external accounting firms has not been covered by the three official reports into Ireland’s financial crash, the world’s costliest.