E&Y in Equitable Life strike out
Ernst & Young will attempt to get Equitable Life's High Court case against the Big Four firm struck out next week.
Link: Equitable intends to sue government
Recently, when E&Y failed to get the Joint Disciplinary Scheme investigation into the same matter delayed, the judge said that if E&Y lost the civil case with the embattled life assurer, it would lead to the ‘destruction of the firm’.
E&Y, however, is confident that the Monday hearing will end in success. But Equitable Life will battle hard to avoid any strike out and maintains its confidence in the law suit.
Equitable Life is suing E&Y for alleged professional negligence over its auditing of the groups accounts before 1999. It claims that this negligence led to Equitable Life being sold for far less than it was worth.
A legal expert close to the case told Accountancy Age that Equitable faces an uphill struggle. ‘That’s a hard call because it’s saying that an auditor should preserve the price of a company’.