Feb 12 (Reuters) - Four partners have left EY following potential breaches in its audit of Shell that resulted in the oil major dropping the accounting firm as its auditor, the Financial Times
Four partners leave EY after breaches of Shell audit, FT reports
Impact of EY's Audit Breaches on Shell
Feb 12 (Reuters) - Four EY partners have left the firm after breaching independence rules during its audit of Shell that led to the termination of a $66 million-a-year contract, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Details of the Compliance Failures
The exits happened last December as the accounting firm rushed to contain the fallout from the compliance failures, the report said.
Regulatory Investigations and Consequences
Shell did not respond immediately to a Reuters' request for comment. EY declined to comment.
Shell's New Auditor Selection
Shell said in a July 2025 regulatory filing that EY had breached rules that require an accounting firm to change its lead audit partner every five to seven years.
At the time, it also said that it would amend its 2023 and 2024 annual reports after EY failed to comply with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules on partner rotation.
In December, Britain's Financial Reporting Council said it had opened an investigation into EY's audit of Shell's 2024 financial statements over potential breaches of audit partner rotation rules.
Earlier this month, Shell chose PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as its next auditor after a tender process, with PwC set to replace EY from 2027.
(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim and Anna Peverieri in Barcelona; Editing by Kim Coghill and Tomasz Janowski)
