The Financial Times reports today (04/01/10) that the FSA is using outside experts to help it conduct evaluations -- supervisory reviews by 'external skilled persons' under s166 of the FS&M Act -- of some of the banks brought into the nation's custody. PwC is apparently looking at RBS; Ernst & Young are reviewing HBOS; and BDO Stoy Hayward are looking at Bradford and Bingley.
According to the FT "people with knowledge of the probes" said it was unlikely that the reports would be made public.

Could that be because the reports are actually being used to determine how the auditors of all these businesses -- KPMG audited both HBOS and Bradford and Bingley; RBS were audited by Deloitte --could have been so blind as to miss all the signs of imminent collapse when signing off the accounts? Neither KPMG nor Deloitte are cited as being involved in the reviews.