Last checked at 
LONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Britain's accounting watchdog
said on Monday it has broadened its investigation into the
audits of British defence company Babcock International Group by
PwC.
The Financial Reporting Council said it was investigating
PwC's audits for Babcock for the years ended March 31 2019 and
2020.
The decision was made last month following public
announcements regarding the outcome of the contract
profitability and balance sheet review commissioned by Babcock,
the FRC said.
"The FRC has an ongoing investigation into aspects of the
statutory audits by PwC of the consolidated financial statements
of Babcock for the years ended 31 March 2017 and 31 March 2018.
That investigation followed the outcome of an audit quality
review," the FRC said in a statement.
PwC said it will cooperate fully with the FRC in its
enquiries and that audit quality is of paramount importance.
Babcock declined to comment.
"The FRC's annual reviews of our audit work, policies and
procedures show a continued trend of improvement in our work and
we use their insights, together with our own reviews, to
continuously improve how we deliver high quality audits," PwC
said in a statement.
(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
