The London-based auditor admitted the allegations and agreed to pay what the SEC said was the largest fine against an auditor. “EY acknowledges the findings identified by the Hellenic Capital Market Commission,” said Brendan Mullin, EY ‘s director of media relations, adding that the company’ s response was “thorough, comprehensive and effective”. “At EY, nothing is more important than our integrity and our ethics.” The CPA is the basic qualification for accountants in the United States. EY also agreed to “take extensive remedial action to rectify the company’s ethical issues,” the SEC said.

49 people received test answers in advance

The Wall Street watchdog found that 49 EY professionals “acquired or released” the CPA License Examination Keys, while hundreds more cheated to complete continuing professional training data related to CPA ethics. “This action involves breaches of trust by security guards … who have been entrusted with the control of many of our nation’s public companies. It is simply outrageous that the very professionals responsible for defrauding customers have cheated ethics examinations, “said Gurbir Grewal, SEC Executive Director. in a statement. “And it is just as shocking that Ernst & Young blocked our investigation into this misconduct,” Grewal added. EY told the Hellenic Capital Market Commission that it had no problems with the fraud when, in fact, the company had been informed of a possible fraud in CPA conduct by a staff member, the SEC said. He added that EY admitted that it did not correct its submission even after an internal investigation by EY confirmed that there was fraud and even after its senior lawyers discussed the matter with the company’s top management. The decision of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission also finds that EY violated a rule of the Accounting Supervisory Board (PCAOB) that requires the company to maintain integrity in the provision of a professional service. The SEC has ordered EY to retain two independent advisers to help rectify its shortcomings. One will review the company’s policies and procedures related to ethics and integrity. The other will review EY’s conduct on its reporting failures, including whether any EY employees contributed to the company’s failure to correct its misleading submission, the SEC said.