It has also been pointed out that it is difficult for the firms to claim they are at serious risk if they do not open up their books to demonstrate it.Perhaps mindful of the need to offer a quid pro quo, KPMG is planning to publish full financial information for the whole of its operations if the clients, investors and regulators whose views it is seeking back the proposal to make the audit division a company. It feels that this will answer a persistent media criticism and give it a substantial lead on its rivals.But it could lead to many more problems. At a time when Arthur Andersen, for one, is publicly stating that it wanted to merge with Binder Hamlyn because it fancied its chances of selling other services to that firm's audit clients, it is difficult to see how the earnings of one part can be separated from the others completely.One caveat made by Chris Pearce, finance director of Rentokil and chairman of the influential Hundred Group's technical committee, goes to the heart of the issue. Though not an audit client of KPMG in the UK, he would make his approval subject to auditors regaining their willingness to express judgements on companies, 'which is what the public expectations of auditors are'.It is a view that is perhaps surprisingly close to that of Prem Sikka, an accountancy academic at East London University who has long been a critic of the profession. 'If they really want to improve their liability position, they've really got to to improve the quality of their work,' he said.

And that involved making them subject to pressures which - because of self- regulation - did not exist yet.Inside the profession, the real fear is that KPMG's move - which could come into effect next year - could convince the public that the liability issue has been solved when it has not.Even Mr Sharman is anxious to point out that the proposal offers only partial protection Partners would no longer risk losing their homes. But they could still be sued personally, and the firm could still be wiped out, leaving so much mayhem that not even the rest of the big six could pick it up.(Photograph and graph omitted). MIRROR Group Newspapers has lifted its stake in Scottish Television by 5 percentage points to the maximum 19.99 per cent it is allowed to hold under current media cross-ownership laws. MGN, through its Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail subsidiary, snapped up 14.9 per cent last month. Yesterday it revealed it had bought 2.44 million more shares last Friday, again at 520p each, for pounds 12.7m.