'Auditors located farther away from the SEC's 11 regional offices are less independent from their clients, because they feel less likely to get caught and punished for misdeeds, according CFO.com.

The findings apply particularly to non-Big Four audit firms, 'which tend to have less consistency in their audit quality', according to the study by three academics of more than 8,000 enforcement releases from 2004 to this year.

It couldn't happen here, could it?