© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Swiss bank UBS is visible at the company’s office on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich in this file photo July 1, 2009. Photo: Arend Wegmann/Reuters
(Reuters) – The USS Group has decided to keep EY as an external auditor, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the decision, to expand its role to include Credit Suisse accounts from 2024.
Two people told the Financial Times that the size of the contract would require the Big Four accounting firm to call in staff from other countries to work on the audit.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which has been Credit Suisse’s auditor since 2020, will audit the acquiring banks’ accounts for 2023, according to the newspaper.
UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.48 billion) in March after panicked customers withdrew money from their accounts at the distressed lender.
PwC included in Credit Suisse’s 2022 annual report a “negative opinion” about the effectiveness of the bank’s internal controls over its reporting, but said its statements “present fairly, in all material respects” the bank’s financial position from 2020 through 2022.
UBS and EY did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the FT report while PwC said it would not comment on the story.
($1 = 0.8617 Swiss francs)