The Securities & Exchange Commission has made a list of companies that must comply with the order. However, this list does not include WPP, owner of Ogilvy & Mather and the J Walter Thompson advertising network.
In a statement, WPP said it had decided to voluntarily comply with the order "with the objective of continuing to adopt best practice at the earliest possible opportunity".
The company has had its "controversial" accounting techniques examined in the media, although there was no implication that it had broken any accounting rules. Analysis by Willott Kingston Smith, a specialist marketing services accountancy firm, revealed that the profits would only have amounted to 拢96.9m and not 拢411m, if WPP had used more conservative accounting methods relating to takeovers.
WPP has since dumped Arthur Andersen as its accountant, and appointed Deloitte & Touche in its place.
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