Auditors could have changed outcome of crisis

THE auditors charged with examining the books of the banks could have altered the overall outcome of the economic collapse if they had challenged lending practices during the property boom.

Yesterday’s report by former IMF economist Peter Nyberg said his Commission of Investigation “would have expected a bank auditor, exercising necessary professional scepticism, to have concerns where there were growing property and funding exposures, combined with material governance failings.

“This combination of factors should have raised questions for the auditor about the sustainability of a bank’s business.”