U.S. Audit Watchdog Fines PwC for Flawed Audit of Merrill Lynch BrokerageU.S. Audit Watchdog Fines PwC for Flawed Audit of Merrill Lynch Brokerage
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ordered PricewaterhouseCoopers to pay $1 million.
August 2, 2017
By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Accounting companyPricewaterhouseCoopers LLP will pay $1 million to settle a civilcomplaint alleging it conducted a flawed audit into MerrillLynch's compliance with federal brokerage customer protectionrules, U.S. audit watchdogs said on Wednesday.
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) saidPwC was settling Wednesday's case without admitting or denyingthe allegations.
The PCAOB's penalty against PwC comes a little over a yearafter the Securities and Exchange Commission ordered Bank ofAmerica's Merrill Lynch to pay $415 million to settlecharges it had put its brokerage clients' cash at risk inviolation of customer protection rules.
SEC rules require brokerages to hold customer money insegregated accounts that are shielded from creditor claimsagainst the bank. The rule also requires brokerages to hireoutside accountants, such as PwC, to conduct routine audits toensure compliance with the rules.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Bernard Orr)
