The UK’s accounting watchdog has closed its investigation into Tesco’s accounts, which was launched in the wake of the grocer’s profits scandal.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) ruled that there was “not a realistic prospect that a tribunal would make an adverse finding” against Tesco’s former auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The firm was replaced as Tesco’s auditor by Deloitte in 2015.
However, the FRC said it was continuing to investigate other chartered accountants who were working for Tesco at the time.
It is understood that those who remain under investigation were not involved in the audit of the accounts, but may have been involved in the preparation and approval of the accounts – something that is done by Tesco and its internal audit function.
A PwC spokesman said: “We cooperated fully during the FRC’s thorough investigation and are pleased that the FRC has closed it without any further action.”
The FRC launched an inquiry in late 2014 into the preparation, approval and audit of Tesco’s accounts, dating back to 2012.
It came months after Tesco admitted it had overstated profits by £263m, due to incorrectly booking payments from suppliers – a figure it later raised to £326m.
In March, Tesco’s stores arm was fined £129m by the Serious Fraud Office after reaching a Deferred Prosecution Agreement.
Tesco also struck a deal with the Financial Conduct Authority to shell out £85m to compensate investors.
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