‘It does not sit right’: Auditor fires back at Sorrell’s ‘conflict of interest’ claims over ANA transparency report

July 20, 2016 10:27

The boss of the auditing firm behind a controversial report into media agency practices has rejected WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell’s claims that it has a conflict of interest, claiming “it just doesn’t sit right” that media agencies should be dictating to clients who should be auditing them.

Sorrell has taken aim at FirmDecisions during an Australian tour.

Yesterday saw the release of the second part of an ANA report into media agencies in the US, which found “non transparent practices” were “pervasive” and recommended among other things that clients should be given more powers to audit their media agencies to ensure they are being open and honest with them.

But Sorrell, boss of the biggest agency holding group in the world, accused Ebiquity’s forensic auditing division Firm Decisions which authored the recommendations of a “conflict of interest” in an interview with The Australian.

Subscribe to keep reading

Join Mumbrella Pro to access the Mumbrella archive and read our premium analysis of everything under the media and marketing umbrella.

Nic Christensen

Nic Christensen worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2016, in roles including deputy editor and media & technology editor. He is former media writer for The Australian and has also worked as a reporter for The Daily Telegraph and senior producer for Radio 2GB.

Topics