SUMMARY: We examine whether bank auditor effort, proxied by audit fees, is related to asset securitization risks (ASR) and whether the incremental auditor effort attributed to ASR is related to audit quality. Our sample period encompasses the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the introduction of...

We document an increase in auditors issuing going-concern opinions in Australia over a prolonged period since the Global Financial Crisis that is not fully explained by changes in client risk. Overall, our evidence is consistent with auditors reporting more conservatively with the increased...