In 2008 there was an expectation that the statutory audit would be abolished in Sweden within a few years. We surveyed audit firms in April 2009 in order to observe their strategic actions when facing this expected major deregulation of their market. We found that the firms appeared to be rather slow in strategic change, one reason being the presence of a strong profession; another, more speculative, reason being their belief in their strong auditing product and brand name; and a third reason being their present client base who needed to satisfy their major stakeholders, such as the state and the banks, through the audit. The agents of change, if any, appeared to be the audit chain firm and the firm partners.