Ernst and Young and PWC Join KPMG in Declaring Themselves Free of Iran Business Ties.
UANI Calls on all Public Companies to Disclose Iran Business in Regulatory Filings.
New York, NY -
Ernst and Young and
PWC have declared that they no
longer maintain business relationships with Iranian firms. Their statements follow
KPMG's laudable decision to cease all accounting activities with affiliates in Iran. These decisions have changed the risk
equation for all public companies.
UANIcalls on all public companies to disclose their Iran business in their
regulatory filings to ensure compliance with the U.S. Securities laws.
Commenting on the Ernst and Young and PWC response UANI
President Ambassador Mark D. Wallace said:
Now that the world's leading auditors have made clear that
doing business in Iran is too great a risk, no responsible company should work
in Iran. All public companies must
disclose any and all business activities, including through foreign
subsidiaries, in this dangerous country.
In a
letter dated April 7, 2010, UANI called on PWC to
clarify its relationship with one of Iran's largest accounting firms, Agahan
& Co. PWC listed Agahan & Co.
on PWC's website as a "cooperating firm" with offices located in Iran.
In response PWC wrote that:
At one time, the Middle East member firm of the PWC network
had a cooperating firm relationship with Agahan & Co. However, that relationship expired last year
and has not been renewed...In any event, neither PWCIL nor any PWC member firm
currently has a cooperating firm relationship with Agahan & Co...Please note that the link to the PWC website
included on the UANI website is to an out-of-date webpage. The correct and current list of offices on
the PWC website does not include any mention of Agahan & Co. or Iran...We
have removed the outdated link to which you cite, as it is inaccurate, and we
appreciate your bringing this inaccuracy to our attention...PWCIL [and PWC US]
does not maintain an office or other business presence in Iran, has no
relationship with Agahan & Co., and does no business in Iran.
In a
letter dated April 7, 2010 UANI called on Ernst and Young to clarify its relationship with one of Iran's largest accounting firms, Tadvin
Co./Tadvin Management Consultants ("Tadvin"). Ernst and Young's website listed
Tadvin as Ernst and Young's Iran based affiliate.
In response Ernst and Young wrote that it:
[E]rroneously listed this firm in an outdated 'Members and
Affiliates' list previously posted on our web site, EY.com. In reality, Tadvin ceased to be a member in
2001. This list was corrected and
replaced in February 2010...For the avoidance of doubt, Ernst and Young does
not have an office, member firm or affiliate in Iran.
UANI thanked
Ernst and Young and
PWC for their responses and
clarifications.
Click
here to read the New York Times' coverage of this announcement.
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