E&Y finally receives Equitable letter
Equitable's lawyers have finally handed over details of the alleged shortcomings in Ernst & Young's audit of the troubled life insurer.
As policy holders were considering the implications of the compromise deal voted on last week, E&Y was studying the details of the report from City law firm Herbert Smith and Equitable’s new auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Last month Accountancy Age revealed that the report commissioned by Herbert Smith had not even been completed when Equitable’s chief executive Vanni Treves launched an attack on the former auditors.
Though neither Equitable nor E&Y were prepared to discuss the report, E&Y confirmed it had received the letter and was considering its contents.
E&Y had previously expressed concern that although Equitable had publicly announced alleged shortcomings in the work the firm carried out when it was auditor of the life insurer, the firm had been left in the dark about the details of the allegations.
At the time it was believed both Herbert Smith and PwC were seeking to distance themselves from the public debate.
But now the spotlight has been placed back on the work carried out by E&Y. A spokesman for E&Y said: ‘We stand by the quality of our audit.’