Securities and Exchange Commission
ORG
Securities and Exchange Commission
Four auditors from KPMG who were involved in its audits of the Xerox Corporation settled suits with the Securities and Exchange Commission, with two of them agreeing to pay the largest fines ever levied by the commission against individual auditors. The settlements brought an end to one of the most contentious fights between the S.E.C. and an auditing firm. In addition to the fines, the three partners who accepted consent decrees were suspended from practicing before the S.E.C., which means that they cannot audit public companies. Four auditors from KPMG who were involved in its audits of the Xerox Corporation settled suits yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, with two of them agreeing to pay the largest fines ever levied by the commission against individual auditors. The commission's director of enforcement, Linda Chatman Thomsen, said that this case represents the S.E.C.'s willingness to litigate important accounting fraud allegations against major accounting firms and their audit partners, even where the accounting was complex.