Not bagging on EY, just part of dd.In 2004, Ernst & Young was...

Not bagging on EY, just part of dd.

In 2004, Ernst & Young was punished for forming a lucrative business arrangement with one of its audit clients, PeopleSoft, thus creating a conflict of interest. As a result, the firm was barred by the SEC from accepting any new publicly traded companies as audit clients for six months.
In April 2004, Equitable Life, a UK life assurance company, sued EY after nearly collapsing but abandoned the case in September 2005. EY described the case as "a scandalous waste of time, money and resources for all concerned."
In 2009, EY, the former auditors of Sons of Gwalia, agreed to a $125m settlement over their role in the gold miner's collapse in 2004. Ferrier Hodgson, the company's administrator, had claimed EY was negligent over the accounting of gold and dollar hedging contracts. However, EY said that the proposed settlement was not an admission of any liability.
Following allegations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that EY had committed accounting fraud in its work auditing the books of Bally Total Fitness, EY reached two settlements in 2008, including a fine of $8.5 million.