E&Y to get its first non-exec
ERNST & YOUNG is to appoint non-executive directors to its global advisory board, becoming the first of the big four auditors to announce its plans to fall in with the new audit code.
The firm will announce the names of the four directors after the summer, and will go beyond the requirements of this year’s new code for accounting companies.
It will be the first time an accounting firm has a similar board structure to that governing the global companies it audits.
Jim Turley, Ernst & Young (E&Y) chairman and chief executive, told the Financial Times that the decision was not related to the ongoing regulatory scrutiny over E&Y’s part in the collapse of Lehman Brothers. He said he did not know whether the move would improve the firm’s standing with regulators.
E&Y backed a report by the Financial Services Authority last week that criticised auditors for a lack of scepticism leading up to the banking crisis in 2008, and said it welcomed further discussions about regulation and supervision.
The firm’s existing global advisory council functions in a similar way to the board of a public company. E&Y did not return calls for comment.