EY hit with £3.5m fine for botched Stagecoach audit

AUDITOR EY has been fined £3.5million for failing to properly challenge Stagecoach when checking its 2017 accounts.

The Financial Reporting Council found the firm’s work had ‘serious deficiencies’ in relation to pension obligations, insurance claims and the East Coast Mainline railway. It said EY was not sceptical enough.

But the regulator reduced the fine to £2.2million for co-operation with officials, and a £100,000 fine for partner Mark Harvey was cut to £70,000. EY said: ‘Regrettably, on this occasion, we fell short of the standards we set for ourselves.’