Ernst & Young’s $100 Million SEC Penalty:

A Case Study of Cheating on CPA Ethics Examinations and Cover-Up

  • Stephen Errol Blythe Tarleton State University

Abstract

The U.S. securities and exchange commission (SEC) monitors the financial reporting practices of business firms that sell stock on U.S. exchanges. The SEC requires certified public accountants (CPAs) to audit those firms in order to provide reasonable assurance that the firms’ financial statements contain no material misstatements and that the firms have good internal accounting controls. Since CPAs serve as a watchdog for the SEC, the CPA exam content should be rigorous and the exam should be securely administered; this helps to ensure that only qualified applicants become CPAs and that audits are performed competently. Accordingly, the SEC was disappointed to learn that some of the auditors at Ernst & Young (E&Y), one of the four largest international CPA firms, had cheated on CPA ethics examinations. Furthermore, E&Y management attempted to cover up the cheating. E&Y admitted its culpability and agreed to pay a $100 million penalty and undertake remedial measures to correct the firm’s ethical issues. At the end of this study, the author: (1) emphasizes the critical importance of ethical behavior to CPAs; (2) makes recommendations for avoidance of internal exam cheating at CPA firms; and (3) makes recommendations to the SEC for improvement of its enforcement quality.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Stephen Errol Blythe, Tarleton State University

Dr. Stephen Errol Blythe is Professor of Accounting and Business Law at Tarleton State University in Stephenville and Fort Worth, Texas. He earned a B.S. in Public Administration  at the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business in 1970, an M.B.A. at Arkansas State University College of Business in 1975, a Ph.D. in Business Administration (Accounting, Management and Economics) at the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business in 1979, a J.D. in Law at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law of Texas Southern University in 1986, an LL.M. in International Business Law at the University of Houston College of Law in 1992, an LL.M. in E-Commerce Law in the School of Law at the University of Strathclyde (Scotland, U.K.) in 2005, and a Ph.D. in E-Commerce Law in the School of Law at The University of Hong Kong (China) in 2010. He holds 5 accounting certifications (Certified Public Accountant & Certified Management Accountant & Certified Internal Auditor & Certified Fraud Examiner & Certified in Strategy and Competitive Analysis) and is a licensed Attorney at Law in the U.S. States of Texas and Oklahoma. He is the author of a 3-volume trilogy on International E-Commerce Law (for sale at Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com) and has published in Accounting, Economics and Law--A Convivium, Columbia Journal of East European Law, European Journal of Law and Economics, Houston Journal of International Law, Journal of Accounting, Ethics and Public Policy, Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce and 30 other accounting and law journals. He was an accountant at a wholesale furniture manufacturing company in Houston in the 1980s and represented insurance companies in litigation in Oklahoma City in the 1990s.  He has traveled in 60 countries and worked overseas for 20 years in Japan, China, Africa and the Middle East. He served 4 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and was deployed overseas for 1 year.    

References

Barbarino, A. (2022, 1 Juli). After EY cheating scandal, will the “big four” finally get it? Law360. https://www.law360.com/articles/1507293.

Detzen, D. (2018). A “new deal” for the profession: Regulatory initiatives, changing knowledge conceptions and the committee on accounting procedure. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 31(3), 970-992. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-06-2016-2584.

Feroz, E. H., Kwon, T. M., Pastena, V. S., & Park, K. (2000). The efficacy of red flags in predicting the SEC’s targets: An artificial neural networks approach. International Journal of Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance & Management, 9(3), 145-157. https://doi.org/10.1002/1099-1174(200009)9:3<145::AID-ISAF185>3.0.CO;2-G.

Francis, J. R. (2011). A framework for understanding and researching audit quality. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 30(2), 125-152. https://doi.org/10.2308/ajpt-50006.

Glover, S., Jiambalvo, J., & Kennedy, J. (2001, 1 Maret). Research summary 8: The effects of formal sanctions on auditor independence. Journal of Accountancy, 18, 27-35. https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2001/mar/researchsummary8theeffectsofformalsanctionsonauditorindependence.html.

Gonzalez, A. (2023, 13 April). EY hasn’t finished that independent review into procedures to prevent another cheating scandal. Going Concern. https://www.goingconcern.com/ey-hasnt-finished-that-independent-review-into-procedures-to-prevent-another-cheating-scandal/.

Goss, L. (2022, 21 Desember). UK’s audit watchdog calls on top accounting firms to boost measures against exam cheating. CityA.M. https://www.cityam.com/uks-audit-watchdog-calls-on-top-accounting-firms-to-boost-measures-against-exam-cheating/.

Hall, S., & Shaner, H. (2022, 7 Desember). SEC must improve enforcement quality with 3 key factors. Law360 Expert Analysis-Corporate. https://www.law360.com/articles/1555348/sec-must-improve-enforcement-quality-with-3-key-factors.

Hodgkins, G., Nguyen, L., & Shin, M. (2022, 30 November). SEC enforcement numbers show shift to high-impact cases. Law360. https://www.law360.com/articles/1553691/sec-enforcement-numbers-show-shift-to-high-impact-cases.

Hoos, F., Pruijssers, J. L., & Lander, M. W. (2019). Who’s watching? Accountability in different audit regimes and the effects on auditors’ professional skepticism. Journal of Business Ethics, 156(2), 563-575. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3603-6.

Juric, D., O’Connell, B., Rankin, M., & Birt, J. (2018). Determinants of the severity of legal and employment consequences for CPAs named in SEC accounting and auditing enforcement releases. Journal of Business Ethics, 147(3), 545-563. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2956-y.

Kleinman, G., Strickland, P., & Anandarajan, A. (2016). The accounting court: Some speculations on why not? Group Decision & Negotiation, 25(4), 845-871. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10726-015-9456-4.

Lewis, T. B., & Barnes, J. N. (2015). An accounting liability heuristic. Journal of Business Case Studies, 11(4), 189-224. https://doi.org/10.19030/jbcs.v11i4.9447.

Messier, W. F. Jr., Kozloski, T. M., & Kochetova-Kozloski, N. (2010). An analysis of SEC and PCAOB enforcement actions against engagement quality reviewers. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 29(2), 233-252. https://doi.org/10.2308/aud.2010.29.2.233.

Mintz, S. (2022, 19 Juli). Cheating on exams: Should accounting professionals be trusted? Ethics Sage. https://www.ethicssage.com/2022/07/cheating-on-exams-should-accounting-professionals-be-trusted.html.

Peirce, H. M. (2022, 28 Juni). When voluntary means mandatory and forever: Statement on in the matter of Ernst & Young LLP. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://sec.gov/news/statement/peirce-statement-ernst-and-young-062822.

Smith, C. F., Bandy, A. B., & Fuchs, A. J. (2023, 12 Januari). Expect analysis: Expect more SEC enforcement against auditors this year. Law360. https://www.law360.com/articles/1565144/xpect-more-sec-enforcement-against-auditors-this-year.

Smith, K. J., Davy, J. A., & Easterling, D. (2004). An examination of cheating and its antecedents among marketing and management majors. Journal of Business Ethics, 50(1), 63-80. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BUSI.0000020876.72462.3f.

U.S. SEC. (2022, 21 Juli). Testimony on “oversight of the SEC’s division of enforcement” before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets. U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/news/statement/grewal-statement-house-testimony-071922.

U.S. SEC. (2022, 28 Juni). Administrative proceeding file no. 3-20911: In the matter of Ernst & Young LLP, respondent. U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. https://sec.gov/litigation/admin/2022/34-95167.pdf.

U.S. SEC. (2022, 28 Juni). Ernst & Young to pay $100 million penalty for employees cheating on CPA ethics exams and misleading investigation. U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-114.

U.S. SEC. (2022, 9 Juni). Critical importance of the general standard of auditor independence and an ethical culture for the accounting profession—remarks of P. Munter, Acting Chief Accountant of SEC. U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/news/statement/munter-20220608.
Published
2025-05-07
How to Cite
BLYTHE, Stephen Errol. Ernst & Young’s $100 Million SEC Penalty:. Journal of Accounting, Business and Management (JABM), [S.l.], v. 32, n. 1, p. 147-158, may 2025. ISSN 2622-2167. Available at: <https://journal.stie-mce.ac.id/index.php/jabminternational/article/view/1231>. Date accessed: 08 may 2025. doi: https://doi.org/10.31966/jabminternational.v32i1.1231.
Section
Articles