EY hit with £1.8m fine following Tech Data audit failings

Fine relates to Tech Data financial reporting discrepancies uncovered in 2013

Ernst & Young (EY) has been fined £1.8m by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) after admitting to misconduct surrounding financial reports it audited for Tech Data.

In 2013 Tech Data was forced to restate numbers for its 2011, 2012, and 2013 fiscal years in the UK after finding accounting "improprieties".

A 10-month investigation led to the distributor slashing $27m from its previously reported net profits and triggered a management reshuffle.

Audit firm EY has now been fined by the FRC after its conduct "fell significantly short of the standards" expected of it.

EY's senior statutory auditor Julian Gray was also fined £59,000.

In a statement the FRC said: "The admitted acts of misconduct related to three audit areas, and included failures to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole were free from material misstatement, failures to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence and failures to exercise sufficient professional scepticism."

EY was initially fined £2.75m, but saw a reduction for agreeing to a settlement. Gray's fine was initially £90,000, but was reduced for the same reason.

The fine relates to financial statements audited by EY for Tech Data in its financial year ending 31 January 2012.

EY also paid £225,000 in legal fees.