EY to pay $100 million SEC fine for employees cheating on ethics exam

Following its Tuesday admission that dozens of its accountants had cheated on ethics exams and that the company

had lied to federal regulators for months about its knowledge of the practise

, professional services company Ernst & Young (EY) agreed to pay a $100 million fine.

49 EY audit professionals sent or received answer keys for ethical exams needed to become Certified Public Accountants (CPAs),

according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),

while others cheated on different CPE courses needed to keep their licences current.

EY acknowledged that senior attorneys who provided the answer were informed of the employee complaint no later than the next day as part of the settlement reached on Tuesday.