Ernst & Young ShinNihon (E&Y),
Olympus’s auditor from 2009, has set up a committee to investigate
its audit work.
This is the first time E&Y has spoken
about Olympus. Two professors and an Osaka high public office
attorney will be on the committee.
E&Y says this is only an internal
investigation to verify some of the claims made in the independent
report published by Olympus earlier this week.
The independent report criticised the
transition of the audit from KPMG AZSA to E&Y and said it was
considered as “nothing but a mere formality” and the two auditing
firms “did not go so far as to touch the substantive reasons for
such replacement”.
E&Y and KPMG AZSA, the Olympus auditor
prior to 2009, are also being investigated by the Japanese
Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Japan’s Financial
Service Agency.
