By Loukia Gyftopoulou
EY will pay a $10m settlement for allegedly helping Lehman Brothers deceive investors in the years before the bank’s collapse in 2008, it was announced on Wednesday.
The New York state settlement marks the end of a series of major lawsuits against the accounting firm in relation to the Lehman bankruptcy.
EY was accused of helping the failed bank conceal its unstable status and mislead investors and analysts.
New York attorney general Schneiderman said that If auditors issue opinions that are unreliable or provide cover for their clients by helping to hide material information, that harms the investing public, the economy, and the USA.
"Auditors will be held accountable when they violate the law, just as they are supposed to hold the companies they audit accountable," he continued.
In 2013 EY agreed to pay $99m in damages to former Lehman Brothers investors, who filed a lawsuit against a number of those involved with the bank in 2010.
An EY spokesperson said: "After many years of costly litigation we are pleased to put this matter behind us, with no findings of wrongdoing by EY or any of its professionals."
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