SEE - SEC fines Ernst & Young for interfering with a company's auditor selection process

Closely held accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP, one of its partners, and two of its former partners and a former chief accounting officer of a public company agree to pay a total of more than $10M to settle allegations that they violated auditor independence rules, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said. The Wall Street Journal reports that the publicly traded company involved in the case is Sealed Air (SEE +1.5%). The SEC's order finds that Ernst & Young partner James Herring, and former partners James Young and Curt Fochtmann improperly interfered with the company's selection of an independent auditor by seeking and getting confidential competitive intelligence and audit committee information from the issuer's then chief accounting officer. Separately, the SEC brought charges against William Stiehl, the former chief accounting officer of the issuer.

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SEC fines Ernst & Young for interfering with a company's auditor selection process