Ernst & Young calls off splitting its audit and consulting units

Ernst & Young’s top leaders called off a planned breakup of its consulting and audit practice after the US affiliate decided not to take part, disrupting a nearly yearlong struggle to build consensus for the historic shakeup of the Big Four accounting firm. But the plan, known as Project Everest, suffered repeated setbacks as partners disagreed over compensation and the resources needed to staff the remaining audit practice—a key sticking point for leaders of EY’s US affiliate. Just two weeks ago US and global leaders said they were still working to resolve differences over key aspects of the deal including how to staff the audit practice and how to divide the tax practice. The impasse pitted Julie Boland, chair of EY US and who was picked to run the legacy audit practice, against Carmine Di Sibio, who chair’s EY global arm and was set to run the stand-alone consulting business.