Shell (NYSE:SHEL) said on Friday it has chosen PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as its new external auditor after completing a competitive tender process, with the firm set to replace EY beginning in 2027.
The decision follows an investigation launched in December by the UK’s Financial Reporting Council into EY’s audit of Shell’s 2024 financial statements. The probe is examining whether audit partner rotation requirements were breached.
Shell had previously disclosed in a regulatory filing last July that rules requiring listed companies to rotate lead audit partners every five to seven years—and to observe mandatory cooling-off periods before partners can return to the same client—had not been properly followed.
In the same filing, Shell said it would need to revise its 2023 and 2024 annual reports after EY was found not to be fully compliant with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulations on audit partner rotation. The company stressed at the time that the amendments would not result in any changes to its reported financial figures.