E&Y Pays $10 Million for Audit Independence Violations, SEC Says

Ernst & Young will pay $10 million to settle allegations that it violated auditor independence rules in seeking to win business from packaging firm Sealed Air Corp.

Ernst & Young and some of its partners interfered with the audit selection process by receiving confidential information from Sealed Air’s former Chief Accounting Officer William Stiehl, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a Monday statement. E&Y settled the claims without admitting or denying the regulator’s findings.

Stiehl agreed to pay a $51,000 penalty without admitting or denying the SEC’s claims. The SEC didn’t identify Sealed Air by name in ...