Ernst & Young LLP, one of the world’s largest auditing firms, is facing a $100 million fine after U.S. securities regulators found that some of its auditors cheated on ethics exams, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In addition to violating accounting rules, EY didn’t cooperate with a key part of the regulator’s probe, the agency said. EY agreed to pay the penalty and undertake extensive remedial measures to fix the firm’s ethical issues.

“This action involves breaches of trust by gatekeepers within the gatekeeper entrusted to audit many of our Nation’s public companies. It’s simply outrageous that the very professionals responsible for catching cheating by clients cheated on ethics exams of all things,” Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, said in a statement.

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“And it’s equally shocking that Ernst & Young hindered our investigation of this misconduct. This action should serve as a clear message that the SEC will not tolerate integrity failures by independent auditors who choose the easier wrong over the harder right.”

Almost 50 EY audit employees improperly shared answer keys to the ethics portion of the Certified Public Accountant test between 2017 and 2021. Hundreds more cheated on continuing professional education courses, the SEC said. 

“It’s simply outrageous that the very professionals responsible for catching cheating by clients cheated on ethics exams,” Gurbir Grewal, the head of the SEC’s enforcement division, said in the statement. “It’s equally shocking that Ernst & Young hindered our investigation of this misconduct.”  

Many EY employees knew that their behavior violated the company’s code of conduct, but some still did it.

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Ernst & Young said in a statement that “nothing is more important than our integrity and our ethics” and that it is complying with the SEC’s order.

“We have repeatedly and consistently taken steps to reinforce our culture of compliance, ethics, and integrity in the past,” an spokesperson for the firm said. “We will continue to take extensive actions, including disciplinary steps, training, monitoring, and communications that will further strengthen our commitment in the future.”