PwC、金融危機で破たんしたMF Globalから１０億ドルの損害賠償請求（ロイターより）

PwC is sued for $1 billion over MF Global collapse

週刊経営財務の4月7日号（「海外会計トピックス」）でも取り上げていますが、金融危機の際に破たんしたMF Globalが、監査人であったPwCに10億ドルの損害賠償を求める訴訟を提起したという記事。63億ドルの欧州政府債券への投資に関するPwCの助言が、同社の破たんに原因の一つとなったと主張しているそうです。

The administrator of MF Global Holdings Ltd's bankruptcy plan on Friday sued the auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers for at least $1 billion over its advice on a $6.3 billion European sovereign debt investment that helped fuel the brokerage's rapid demise.

訴状によると、この政府債券のオフバランス処理に関し助言し、承認したことが「professional malpractice」だとされています。

According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, PwC committed professional malpractice by offering "flatly erroneous" advice concerning, and approval of, the off-balance-sheet accounting treatment for the debt by MF Global and its then-chief executive, Jon Corzine.

The complaint said PwC knew that the investment would add significant risk to MF Global's already weak finances. It said MF Global would not have taken on the exposure, which allowed it to book immediate revenue, had it received sound advice.

"PwC's professional malpractice and negligence were a direct and proximate cause of massive damages the company suffered," the complaint said.