Bear Stearns auditor Deloitte warned that there were problems with the bank's fair value accounting in an audit released last year.

Deloitte said there were problems in two of Bear Stearns' hedge funds, WebCPA reported, revealing that many of the valuation estimates may not have corresponded with reality.

'These values may differ from the values that would have been used had a ready market for these investments existed, and the differences could be material,' said the audit.

The collapse and sale of the US investment bank is causing turmoil on global stock markets, and there is already talk of investor lawsuits in relation to the bank.

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