The SEC has fined accounting giant Ernst & Young $100 million because — you can’t make this shit up when it comes to Wall Street — the firm was cheating on the ethics tests required for some of its employees to remain licensed:
Hundreds of auditors at accounting giant Ernst & Young cheated on ethics tests they were required to take to get or maintain their professional licenses, and the company withheld evidence of the misconduct from federal authorities investigating the matter, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In response, the SEC is imposing a $100 million fine on the company, the largest ever on an audit firm, the agency announced Tuesday.
“This action involves breaches of trust by gatekeepers within the gatekeeper entrusted to audit many of our nation’s public companies,” Gurbir Grewal, SEC enforcement director, said in a statement. “It’s simply outrageous that the very professionals responsible for catching cheating by clients cheated on ethics exams of all things.”
In a statement, Ernst & Young admitted to the SEC’s charges and said it is complying with the agency’s penalty.
Wall Street is such a cesspool.
I’m old enough to recall the crooked accounting giant Arthur Anderson before it was brought down in the Enron scandal.
If the gatekeepers keep being exposed as being crooked, how much do you think the rest of them can be trusted?
Guess that rebranding of Ernst & Young to just EY couldn’t come at better time, eh?
Please to enjoy the old EY recruiting video below. It’s kind of a riot in the wake of these charges.