Iceberg expresses doubt over effectiveness of PwC review of Noble

Iceberg Research on Tuesday afternoon fired another salvo at Noble Group, expressing its doubt that the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct a review will solve the commodity trader's problems.

"Noble has not clearly defined the scope of the review," said Iceberg Research, which believes that PwC will work on the valuation framework, rather than the valuation of the portfolio itself, combing through it counterparty by counterparty.

PwC will also not answer the question that investors and creditors want, Iceberg added, which is whether Noble violates the spirit of the law to overstate its mark to market valuations.

Iceberg also took issue with the composition of the audit committee. "Three out of four members of the new audit committee including the committee chairman are already members of the old audit committee," it said. "Who can seriously believe that the persons who have been involved in the audit of Noble will publicly admit that they were wrong?"

Noble's management will have no choice but to look for a white knight as the crisis deepens, Iceberg concluded.

BT has sought comments from the Hong Kong-based commodities group and is awaiting its response.