UK regulator probes EY for audit of Middle Eastern hospital group

The UK’s Financial Reporting Council is investigating EY’s auditing of NMC Health, a Middle Eastern hospital operator that faces fraud allegations.

The regulator’s enforcement division will investigate the company’s 2018 financial statements, it said on Monday. The probe began on April 15 and could result in sanctions.

NMC, founded by Indian entrepreneur Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, is being run by administrators after succumbing to creditor demands. Trading in the London-listed hospital chain, which had a market value of $10bn at its peak, was suspended in February amid allegations of fraud.

It has revealed more than $4bn of undisclosed borrowings, pushing its total debt to $6.6bn.

EY and the other three large accounting firms have been criticised by UK regulators for sloppy audit work and perceived conflicts of interest, which prompted parliamentary calls for them to split their consulting and auditing arms.

In July, the UK accounting regulator said it had issued record fines of £42.9m in the previous 12 months. And in April, EY was told to pay $10.8m to an auditor who blew the whistle on wrongdoing at a Dubai gold refiner.

Shetty has said he was a victim of fraud, including the creation of unauthorised bank accounts in his name. His business empire is under scrutiny beyond NMC. Finablr, the embattled owner of two foreignexchange businesses, uncovered about $1bn of debt hidden from its board that may have been used for purposes outside the company.