Estadão Contenti
07/18/2023 – 7:24 am
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Americanas informed that it requested a manifestation from PricewaterhouseCoopers Auditores Independentes (PwC) regarding the consent to change the company’s independent auditor, from PwC to BDO RCS Auditores Independentes Sociedade Simples Limitada (BDO), but that it did not receive a response until last Monday, 17.
According to the retailer, after the decision of the board of directors to change the independent auditor, on June 27, Americanas sent a letter to PwC, in which it informed the reasons that led the company to make that decision. “Since then, the company and PwC have exchanged correspondence on the subject and Americanas has requested PwC’s statement on its consent, not having, however, received a response to date,” says a statement to the market.
Americanas also states that the decision to replace the independent auditor “does not anticipate any value judgment regarding the work of PwC so far, but aims only to allow Americanas’ audited financial statements to be finalized and properly disclosed”. As a result, BDO must perform the audit of the financial statements for the 2022 fiscal year and the restatement of the financial statements for the 2021 fiscal year, as well as the review of the financial statements for the fiscal year beginning in January 2023.
Reasons for changing auditor
In order to justify the reasons for the change of auditor, the retailer claims that it received correspondence from PwC on June 17 of this year, informing the suspension of audit work related to the 2022 financial statements and informing that it would not be possible to complete the audit procedures audit related to impacted historical financial statements until they have “complete and transparent access to company information and independent investigation, including access to all eventual written reports and corresponding supporting documents/evidence”.
The company says that, in view of the circumstances surrounding the preparation of its audited financial statements for past years, it sought to ensure that the audit work and shadow investigation would not be hampered by advocacy efforts, with the aim of giving maximum credibility to the audit work itself.
“After unsuccessful attempts to propose to PwC additional precautions for conducting audit work on financial statements to be redone and shadow investigation, and also considering the need to disclose to the market audited financial statements that have a high degree of reliability and within a period compatible with the information needs of the market and the company’s creditors, the company’s board of directors decided to change its independent auditors”, states Americanas, in a notice to the market sent to the Brazilian Securities Commission (CVM).
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