Final Word from Friday, August 2, 2002
Ernst & Young thought we were dwelling too much on the past in our article "Little Enron" and were relying on inaccurate information about its audit of Chemapol. Neither its work at Chemapol nor at IPB has ever been officially disputed, according to Country Managing Partner Dirk Kroonen. Ernst & Young always adhered to all professional standards, he said, and it stands behind the quality of its work. He added that the present discussion regarding this issue comes back to the misunderstanding of the auditor's role, which he acknowledged needs to be better defined in the future in order to minimize the risk of the kind of scandals now appearing in the U.S. and other countries. Kroonen expressed general support for efforts by the Czech Securities Commission (SEC) to open a discussion on auditors' responsibilities.