PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Ernst & Young LLP are under investigation by Britain's accounting regulator over their reports on customers' compliance with U.K. rules to protect client money.
The probes are focused on PwC's work for JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s London unit and Ernst & Young's reports for Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s U.K. European unit, the Financial Reporting Council said in statements on its website Monday.
The reports in question covered Lehman's and JPMorgan Chase's observance of the Financial Services Authority's client-asset rules, known as Cass, which are intended to segregate customer assets from those of the company to protect them during liquidation.
The FSA in June fined JPMorgan Chase's London unit a record 33.3 million pounds ($52.8 million) for not properly separating client money from the firm's accounts. Lehman's bankruptcy, which roiled financial markets worldwide in 2008, resulted in more than $1 trillion in claims and efforts by regulators worldwide to unravel how money moved through its global units.
