汇丰于2023年1月17日宣布，在经过必要的招标程序后，决定重新任命普华永道。因为在签署2024年财务报告的审计报告时，普华永道为汇丰提供审计将满10年。

据知情人士透露，汇丰马拉松式的投标过程实际上始于2021年该行非正式地与会计师事务所接触。普华永道和德勤成为最终入围的两家公司。

在伦敦证交所，汇丰的审计费用远远高于Barclays和Shell。

该行在2020年和2021年分别向普华永道支付了1.3亿美元的审计服务费用，这意味着未来10年这项任命的价值可能在13亿美元左右。

普华永道于2015年从毕马威手中接管了该公司的审计，并有资格服务至2034年。但需要在10年期间进行竞争性招标。根据2016年出台的规定，大型英国上市公司必须至少每20年更换审计师，并每10年进行一次竞争性招标。

汇丰提前进行了招标，以便让普华永道的挑战者有时间完成咨询项目，并消除利益冲突。

普华永道的再次任命将得到汇丰年度股东大会批准。该银行表示，将在年度报告中公布招标细节。

普华永道和德勤拒绝置评。

原英文报道如下：

PwC has retained the most valuable audit contract on the London Stock Exchange after overcoming a challenge from Deloitte to sign off the accounts of HSBC until 2034.

HSBC announced on Tuesday that it had decided to reappoint PwC following a tender process that was required because the Big Four firm will have served for 10 years by the time it signs the 2024 accounts.

PwC and Deloitte were the final two firms in HSBC’s marathon tendering process that effectively began when the bank informally contacted accounting firms in 2021, according to people familiar with the process.

The HSBC audit is by a distance the most expensive on the London Stock Exchange ahead of those at Barclays and Shell.

The bank paid PwC $130mn for audit and related assurance services in each of 2020 and 2021, meaning the appointment could be worth about $1.3bn over the next decade.

PwC took over from KPMG in 2015 and was eligible to serve until 2034 subject to a competitive tender at the 10-year mark. Under rules introduced in 2016, large UK-listed companies are required to change auditor at least every 20 years and to run a competitive tender once a decade.

HSBC ran the tender early to give time to challengers to PwC to finish up consulting projects and eliminate conflicts of interest were they to win the contract to audit its accounts from 2025.

PwC’s reappointment adds to the mixed approach taken so far by FTSE 100 companies in deciding whether to stick with their existing auditor for a second decade or risk disruption by appointing a competitor.

Aviva decided in 2021 that it would drop PwC in favour of EY. The London Stock Exchange Group and NatWest both opted last year to ditch EY, choosing Deloitte and PwC respectively. However, Unilever decided to stand by incumbent auditor KPMG.

The proportion of incumbents winning a second 10-year term is expected to be affected by the outcomes of the tenders run by the first companies to reach that mark. “If you see eight out of the first 10 extended, then that will become the norm,” said the audit committee chair of one of the largest FTSE 100 companies prior to HSBC’s announcement.

Despite the high fees, HSBC bosses had feared the audit would generate limited interest from PwC’s Big Four competitors Deloitte, EY and KPMG because of the scale of the task and the bar on carrying out lucrative consulting work for audit clients.

“A lot of firms weren’t jumping at the tender,” said one of the people familiar with the matter.

The size, geographic reach and regulatory complexity of HSBC make its audits one of the most difficult on the London Stock Exchange. About 100 PwC partners and 2,000 staff in total work on the HSBC audit globally, said a person familiar with the matter.

Simply pitching for the work was expected to cost up to $5mn per firm, said a senior Big Four partner.

PwC’s reappointment will be subject to annual HSBC shareholder approval. The bank said it would give details of the tender in its annual report.

PwC and Deloitte declined to comment.