Abstract

US securities regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) levied a fine of US$ 100 million on the US arm of Ernst & Young (E&Y), one of the largest auditing firms in the world, after it was found that its audit professionals had cheated on exams they were required to pass to obtain and retain Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licenses. SEC pointed out that E&Y had not reported the misconduct or presented the evidence from the Enforcement division of SEC, and levied the fine of US$ 100 million on E&Y.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Examine the importance of having a Code of Conduct to guide employees toward ethical behavior
• Understand the importance of Ethics for auditors and the individual’s responsibility toward ethics
• Recommend the actions needed to be taken to prevent ethical wrongdoing

Keywords

Code of Conduct; Ethical Behavior; Ethics for Auditors; Individual’s Responsibility; Ethical Wrongdoing; Corporate Values; Deviant Workplace Behavior; Organizationally Directed Production Deviance; Unethical Conduct; Business Ethics; Role of Organization