THE ALLEGED interference of guidance bodies in the auditing of troubl banking assemblage Resona Holdings earlier this year--over the accounting treatment for deferr tax assets--caused the resignation of single of the bank's audit firms and sparked revived attempts to make audits more independent (see brow page).

THE ALLEGED interference of guidance bodies in the auditing of troubl banking assemblage Resona Holdings earlier this year--over the accounting treatment for deferr tax assets--caused the resignation of single of the bank's audit firms and sparked revived attempts to make audits more independent (see brow page). Furthermore, regulatory attempts to separate audit and non-audit services could have devastating implications for accounting firms already experiencing a significant realignment employment the collapse of Arthur Andersen last August.

"There has definitely been a clear change in attitude, with companies now realising that in an increasingly global economy, opennes and