FTX—The Plausbility of an Unmodified Audit Opinion on an Organization That Lacks Internal Control; A Deep Dive into the Standards

FTX Group was plagued with material related party transactions as well as an “unprecedented” lack of internal control. Yet, despite these issues, two of the four FTX “Silos” were given unmodified audit opinions. The purpose of this paper is not to rehash what went wrong, how and where. Rather, this paper calls into question the ability for a public accounting firm to issue an unmodified opinion on the financial statements of FTX. I will explore the relevant auditing standards and guidance provided to auditors to determine the appropriateness of issuing an unmodified opinion. Ultimately, I determine that a Disclaimer of Opinion on the Financial Statements is the only appropriate report to issue when an entity has pervasive and material related party transactions and lacks internal control.