More and more clients of major auditing firm ChuoAoyama PricewaterhouseCoopers are switching to rival outfits after the Financial Services Agency ordered ChuoAoyama to suspend its business for two months starting in July.
Cosmetics giant Shiseido said it will switch to KPMG Azsa & Co., one of four major auditing firms in Japan.
A Shiseido spokesman claimed the company had been debating a change before the FSA imposed the penalty on ChuoAoyama, but added that the auditor's role in falsifying the financial statements of fellow cosmetics maker Kanebo Ltd. contributed to its decision.