News Article - 19 September 2006
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Ernst and Young has confirmed that US regulators have visited its headquarters in London to carry out an inspection under Sarbanes-Oxley (Sox) rules.

Under Sox requirements, US regulators are required to report every year on foreign audit firms with more than 100 US clients, or every three years at firms with less than 100.

An Ernst and Young spokeswoman described the inspection as part of an "ongoing dialogue" with US regulators.

The Financial Times reports that Ernst and Young employees have voiced discontent at what they see as an intrusion, and quoted unnamed staff members as saying that the work duplicated that of UK regulators.

The inspection is being carried out by members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a dedicated body set up under the Sox regulation.

The UK Treasury last week announced that it would install legislation protecting the country's "light touch" regulation against any foreign takeover of the stock exchange.

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