Ernst
&
Young
(
EY
)
said
on
Thursday
it
was
planning
to
____________________
its
audit
and
consulting
units
into
two
companies
,
as
the
professional
services
firm
looks
to
ease
regulatory
____________________
over
potential
____________________
of
interest
.
The
Big
Four
accounting
firms
,
____________________
EY
,
Deloitte
,
KPMG
and
PricewaterhouseCoopers
,
have
been
under
regulatory
scanner
for
years
over
concerns
that
the
companies'
advisory
services
could
____________________
their
ability
to
conduct
____________________
reviews
.
London
-
based
EY
,
which
in
June
had
denied
reports
on
its
restructuring
plans
,
said
it
would
provide
its
13
,
000
partners
with
more
information
before
voting
on
the
split
starts
on
a
country
-
by
-
country
____________________
from
late
2022
.
It
is
likely
to
____________________
in
early
2023
.
If
____________________
by
the
partners
,
the
company's
split
would
mark
the
biggest
____________________
-
up
in
the
sector
since
the
2002
collapse
of
Arthur
Andersen
,
the
auditor
that
was
____________________
in
the
Enron
scandal
and
whose
downfall
reduced
the
"
Big
Five
"
to
"
Big
Four
"
.
UK
auditing
and
accounting
regulator
,
the
Financial
Reporting
Council
,
had
asked
the
Big
Four
firms
in
2020
to
separate
auditing
as
a
____________________
business
in
Britain
by
June
2024
,
partly
____________________
by
corporate
failures
at
builder
Carillion
and
retailer
BHS
.
EY
____________________
,
which
audited
payments
company
Wirecard
AG's
books
,
are
also
facing
____________________
from
the
German
fintech
firm's
investors
after
it
collapsed
in
2020
.
EY
has
denied
any
____________________
.
EY
Big
Four
rivals
have
also
been
____________________
increased
pressure
to
break
up
their
audit
and
consulting
practices
.
However
,
Deloitte
and
PricewaterhouseCoopers
said
earlier
this
year
that
they
had
no
plans
to
____________________
and
would
continue
with
their
current
business
models
.
EY
expects
to
report
a
record
____________________
of
$45
.
4
billion
for
its
most
recent
financial
year
,
up
13
.
5%
from
a
year
earlier
,
according
to
a
report
from
the
Financial
Times
.
