Ernst Young

The Baltimore office of the national accounting firm Ernst & Young, which has the largest staff of accountants in the city, announced yesterday the appointment of Robert G. Neubert as its second managing partner in less than three years.Mr. Neubert replaces Ronald J. Kozich, who will become managing partner at Ernst & Young's Philadelphia office. Both appointments become official April 1, said Ronald C. Diegelman, director of planning and marketing for the Baltimore office.Mr. Neubert was in New Zealand on a business trip yesterday, Mr. Diegelman said.

Marylanders' personal income rose in summer Personal income in Maryland was 0.3 percent higher in the summer than the spring, the same increase felt nationwide, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated Thursday. That was significantly smaller than the state's 1.2 percent increase in the spring, but better than the 2.8 percent drop felt in the winter. Personal income includes wages, benefits, government payments such as unemployment checks and other income, including rents and dividends.

Ernst & Young International, one of the nation's top accounting and consulting firms, is negotiating an unusually large settlement of a Baltimore lawsuit charging it with fraud and incompetence in advising on the bankruptcy of the Merry-Go-Round clothing chain, according to several people involved in negotiations.While the lawyers yesterday cautioned that the deal was not final, sources said the settlement of the suit filed by Merry-Go-Round bankruptcy trustee Deborah Hunt Devan is likely to be more than $150 million, which would rank it among the largest in state history.

WASHINGTON - Big accounting firm Ernst & Young has agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle federal regulators' charges in connection with an alleged accounting fraud at Bally Total Fitness in 2001-2003. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the settlement Thursday with Ernst & Young, which also agreed to change its policies and practices to prevent future problems. Officials said it was one of the largest settlements ever paid by an accounting firm. The SEC had alleged that Ernst & Young knew or should have known about Bally's accounting violations.

A Baltimore Circuit Court jury should decide whether the accounting firm hired to revive Maryland-based retailer Merry-Go-Round Enterprises Inc. instead caused its collapse, a U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled yesterday.Rather than decide the $4 billion fraud, negligence and malpractice case against Ernst & Young International Inc., Judge E. Stephen Derby said he will send it back to Circuit Court, where it was filed in December by the failed retailer's bankruptcy trustee, Deborah Hunt Devan.A motion by Ernst & Young transferred the lawsuit to bankruptcy court, where Merry-Go-Round is going through a liquidation process.

NEW YORK -- Ernst & Young LLP and KPMG Peat Marwick LLP said yesterday that they will merge, forming the world's largest accounting and consulting firm.The companies expect the merger to be completed by the start of next year. The merged company, which has not yet been named, will operate in 135 countries.The two firms are combining as mergers sweep the financial services industry. Banks, brokers, insurers and accountants are trying to boost profits and slash expenses by combining."The real emphasis now is to service the needs of global companies wherever they want to go in the world," said Stephen Butler, chairman and chief executive officer of the U.S. operations of KPMG, who will be the CEO of the new firm's U.S. operations.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge is to decide today whether a federal or state court will handle a $4 billion negligence and fraud lawsuit blaming Ernst & Young International Inc. for the collapse of Maryland-based Merry-Go-Round Enterprises Inc.Deborah Hunt Devan, the failed retailer's bankruptcy trustee, filed the lawsuit in Baltimore Circuit Court in December, but it was transferred to U.S. Bankruptcy Court on a motion by Ernst & Young.At a hearing yesterday before Bankruptcy Judge E. Stephen Derby, Devan's attorneys argued that the case should be sent back to state court to be heard by a jury.

Used to be when Rick Chiricosta, chief financial officer of a Cleveland life insurance company, had a question about IRS regulations or 401(k) plans, he'd call a professional, dig through piles of data to find the answer or perhaps go without the information.Then came Ernie, the Web-based consulting service from Ernst & Young LLP that's run by a native Baltimorean from his Howard County home.The service allows subscribers to send e-mail to consultants with questions about such things as what kind of software to buy and complex tax rules.

WASHINGTON - Big accounting firm Ernst & Young has agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle federal regulators' charges in connection with an alleged accounting fraud at Bally Total Fitness in 2001-2003. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the settlement Thursday with Ernst & Young, which also agreed to change its policies and practices to prevent future problems. Officials said it was one of the largest settlements ever paid by an accounting firm. The SEC had alleged that Ernst & Young knew or should have known about Bally's accounting violations.

In what experts describe as the second-largest legal settlement in Maryland history, accounting giant Ernst & Young LLP agreed yesterday to pay $185 million to settle a lawsuit claiming its duplicity and bad advice sank the clothing chain Merry-Go-Round Enterprises Inc.The size of the settlement represents both an extraordinary blow to the reputation of Ernst & Young, the nation's third-largest accounting firm, and a colossal windfall to the Baltimore lawyers...

Ernst & Young has named seven Maryland winners of its 2008 Entrepreneur of the Year awards, drawing from fields that range from biotechnology to engineering to automotive services. The winners, who were presented at a Baltimore gala event Thursday night, now go on to compete for national entrepreneur award titles to be announced at an annual Ernst & Young event in Palm Springs, Calif., in November. Maryland's youngest winner was Pikesville native Jason Goldsmith, 32, chief executive of CARCHEX, which assists consumers and dealers with the online sale of new and used cars and warranties.

New York -- Federal prosecutors have decided not to bring criminal charges against the accounting firm of Ernst & Young over its work with questionable tax shelters, but will instead bring criminal charges against four employees, people briefed on the situation said yesterday. The four employees, Robert Coplan, Richard Shapiro, Martin Nussbaum and Brian Vaughan, were were arrested and charged yesterday. Lawyers for the men could not immediately be reached. Two of the men are no longer at the firm, and two others are still technically employed by the firm but are not active partners.

Ernst & Young has announced its Maryland winners for the 2006 Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The winners, who are eligible for the national contest, were chosen from 25 state finalists. Winners, announced last month, were chosen by six Maryland judges, from area business, academic and civic organizations. Criteria for selecting winners were based on company growth, innovation and community involvement, a spokeswoman said. Winners include: Construction services: Mark Richardson, president, Case Design/Remodeling Inc. Consumer and retail products: Brad MacDonald, chairman and chief executive officer, Medifast Inc. Financial services: Gary Marino, CEO, I4 Commerce.

Twelve business leaders from the region have been selected for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards. It marks the 16th year that the accounting giant has honored local entrepreneurs in about 31 areas of the country. The winners are eligible to be recognized at the national level. National honors will be announced in November. International winners are also selected in 100 cities and 35 countries worldwide. A panel of six judges chose the winners from more than 30 finalists for the Maryland area.

Accounting giant Ernst & Young LLP settled a lawsuit yesterday that alleged it helped the now-bankrupt airline Tower Air Inc. falsify its financial reports, canceling a civil trial that was set to begin in Baltimore County Circuit Court next week. Edward F. Mannino, an attorney for Ernst & Young, confirmed last night that a settlement had been reached but declined to comment further. The New York-based accounting firm had sought dismissal of the claims in the lawsuit, filing hundreds of pages of motions.

WASHINGTON - The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Ernst & Young LLP for its role in designing and then auditing a financial product that PNC Financial Services Group Inc. is suspected of using to inflate profit, according to an Ernst & Young spokesman. "We are cooperating fully with the SEC in its review," Charles Perkins, a spokesman at the New York-based firm, said yesterday. American International Group Inc., the world's biggest insurer, hired Ernst & Young to help develop and market a financing arrangement that PNC used to improperly move $762 million in bad loans and investments off its books in 2001, according to the SEC. Ernst & Young, the No. 2 U.S. accounting firm, also was the auditor that year for PNC, a Pittsburgh-based bank.

Ernst & Young fires 240 peopleErnst & Young, one of the nation's largest accounting firms, said yesterday that it had dismissed about 240 people involved with its legal work, including 37 of its 65 lawyers. The firm also disclosed that it had replaced its general counsel, Carl D. Liggio, on Oct. 1.Under Mr. Liggio, Ernst & Young's legal department grew sharply beginning in 1989.@

An article in the Business section June 28 omitted the name of one of the sponsors of this year's Entrepreneurs of the Year awards in Maryland. Ernst & Young is a national sponsor of the program.The Sun regrets the errors.

An independent audit that cost taxpayers $35,000 last year uncovered almost none of the $20,000 that federal prosecutors say former Baltimore Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris illegally spent from a little-known police account. U.S. Attorney Thomas M. DiBiagio charged Norris on Wednesday with abusing the fund by using the money to pay for hotel stays and expensive meals, and to finance romantic liaisons with women. In an effort to investigate allegations raised by The Sun in August last year about the misspending of funds from the police supplemental account, Mayor Martin O'Malley hired the Ernst & Young accounting firm to conduct an independent audit.

When Robert Wildrick took over as chief executive officer of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. in 1999, the company's shares were down more than 50 percent and its finances were in disarray. Wildrick changed the management and sales styles, and began an expansion plan despite the ailing economy. Today, the Hampstead-based company is one of the nation's leading men's clothing store chains, with profits that have risen more than 30 percent in the past three years. Last night, Wildrick was recognized for rejuvenating the company when he became one of seven people honored as Ernst & Young Maryland Entrepreneurs of the Year.