The country's six biggest auditors have held secret discussions with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) about bank write-downs, a national newspaper has claimed.
Many of the world's leading banks have incurred huge losses as a result of the sub-prime crisis, with HSBC, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland among those forced to write down the value of their mortgage assets by more than £1 billion.
According to Financial Mail, the FSA was concerned about how banks were reporting such losses and summoned officials from the leading audit firms to a meeting in an attempt to agree a standard methodology.
The aim of the summit was to make certain that investors could compare the financial performance of banks on a like-for-like basis, an unnamed source told the newspaper.
Another suggested the meeting had helped to ensure that accountancy firms were prepared to get tough with financial sector clients, adding: "There have been some very robust discussions between auditors and banks."
The story has emerged in the same week as the FSA warned banks, building societies and insurance providers that they must step up their security measures in order to protect the personal details of customers.
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