(Corrects Aug. 5 story to say company's shares were halted onJune 24, not June 29 in paragraph 13. The error also appeared inan earlier version.)
Aug 5 (Reuters) - Britain's anti-fraud agency has launchedan investigation into business and accounting practices atinsurance claims processor Quindell, it said onWednesday, as the company announced a 238 million pound ($372million) loss for 2014.
Quindell, under new management this year, said theinvestigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) related to pastpractices, and that the 2014 loss was due largely to impairmentson various transactions and a change in accounting practices.
"The SFO confirmed today that the Director has opened acriminal investigation into business and accounting practices atQuindell plc," the agency said in a statement, without providingfurther details.
Quindell appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers in December tohelp review cash flows, business plans and accounting policiesafter the ouster of its founder in November.
Its 2013 and 2014 publicly released financial statements arealready being investigated by Britain's financial regulator, theFinancial Conduct Authority.
Another regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC)said on Wednesday it was closing a separate review of Quindell's2011 and 2012 accounts after the company corrected errors andamended accounting policies.
Quindell's auditor for 2011 and 2012 was RSM Tenon AuditLtd, which got acquired by Baker Tilly in 2013. KPMG took overas the auditor in October 2013.
The FRC is still investigating Quindell's books for 2013 and2014.
Quindell Chairman Richard Rose, who took charge in January,and Finance Director Mark Williams, named to the post in April,declined to say whether the accounting errors were deliberate.
"That's an impossible question to answer," Rose said on amedia call. "We are the new management and we have worked withthe information we have got at hand."
The company said its pretax loss ballooned to 238 millionpounds in 2014 from a restated 8.6 million for 2013, hurt byabout 157 million in impairment charges and 37.4 million ofexceptional costs.
It forecast revenue to remain largely flat in 2015, comparedwith 72 million pounds for 2014.
Trading in Quindell's shares was halted on June 24, pendingthe publication of its 2014 results.
The company said it had requested for the suspension to belifted on Thursday.
Quindell sold its Professional Services business -- whichprovides legal, claims management, health and medical reportingservices -- in March to focus on its insurance-relatedtechnology business.
The company said it planned to distribute proceeds from thesale via a capital distribution of 1 pound per share toshareholders by autumn.
($1 = 0.6405 pounds) (Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing bySaumyadeb Chakrabarty and Mark Potter)
