A second major accounting firm was fined because auditors cheated on ethics exams. Ernst & Young agreed to pay a $100 million fine in a settlement that was released today. The firm knew about the violations yet failed to report them to the SEC. KPMG was fined $50 million for similar violations in 2019.
The Ethics exam is required by State accounting boards. It is generally not regarded as a particularly difficult test. Most of our CPA students do not spend a great deal of time studying for the Ethics exam which is viewed as more of a common sense exam. However, at both KPMG and EY, it appears as though employees were sharing answer keys with another.
