Big Four accountancy giant Ernst & Young has agreed to pay a $10 million to New York state to settle a lawsuit involving Lehman Brothers, the defunct Wall Street bank. It is the latest settlement by the group which paid $99 million to investors in 2013. The scheme allowed Lehman to hide billions of dollars in bad deals.The firm overlooked a scheme which the bank was using to temporarily sell bad debts which they could repurchase a week or so later, leaving the bank's balance sheet looking more healthy than it should be.

Not caused by accounting issues

According to the accountancy firm, there is no finding of wrongdoing. 'Lehman's audited financial statements clearly portrayed Lehman as what it was - a highly leveraged entity operating in a risky and volatile industry; and Lehman's bankruptcy was not caused by any accounting issues,' Ernst & Young said in a statement. 'After many years of costly litigation we are pleased to put this matter behind us, with no findings of wrongdoing by EY or any of its professionals.' Source: Corporate Watch