The firm that audits the SNP’s accounts has resigned just days after Nicola Sturgeon’s husband was arrested as part of a police investigation into the party’s finances.
The BBC reports that accountancy firm Johnston Carmichael took the decision after reviewing its client portfolio.
An SNP spokesman said: “We can confirm that Johnston Carmichael will not be providing audit services to the SNP this year.
“The national treasurer is undertaking a tendering process for alternative provision and we have advised the Electoral Commission of that position.”
Peter Murrell, 58, who recently stood down as the party’s chief executive, was in police custody for almost 12 hours following his arrest on Wednesday, before being released without charge.
The BBC reported that Johnston Carmichael’s resignation took place before Mr Murrell’s arrest.
Johnston Carmichael had worked with the party for more than a decade.
They informed the party they had “taken the decision to resign following a review of our client portfolio and existing resources and commitments”.
Large political parties are required to submit independently-audited accounts to the Electoral Commission each year.
The decision means the SNP now have until the first week of July to present their accounts or face possible sanctions, including an independent audit.
On Thursday, new SNP leader Humza Yousaf said it was “very, very clear that the governance of the party was not as it should be”.
He has promised a review of governance and transparency with external input, which will be discussed at a meeting of the party’s national executive committee later this month.
Police vans, a large blue tent and a cordon were erected in Mr Murrell’s front garden on Thursday morning, as Ms Sturgeon cancelled a planned appearance at a climate change event in Edinburgh.
Ms Sturgeon has said she had “no prior knowledge of Police Scotland’s action or intentions” when her husband was arrested, but will “fully co-operate if required” with the police.
The arrest related to a long-running police investigation into the spending of about £600,000 earmarked for Scottish independence campaigning.
Mr Murrell stepped down as the SNP’s chief executive last month – just weeks after Ms Sturgeon did so herself – following a controversy about misleading information being given to journalists over the party’s falling membership numbers.
Yesterday, Mr Yousaf insisted that the party was in “good financial health”, but conceded “I want it to be better.”
Conservative MSP Donald Cameron said: “This resignation only raises further questions about the increasingly murky picture surrounding the SNP‘s finances.
“Given this firm have audited the party’s accounts for so long, the SNP must be fully transparent over why they have decided to quit now.
“The extraordinary events of recent weeks leave the SNP with big questions to answer and their auditors’ resignation only adds to the growing number of issues they must address.
“The public are sick of the SNP shrouding matters relating to their finances behind a wall of secrecy and senior figures – including Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon – must be upfront about this situation.”
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