Gasparino: Ernst & Young To Settle With the SEC

Fox Business Network's Senior Correspondent, Charlie Gasparino, is reporting this afternoon that Ernst & Young “is in preliminary talks” to settle with the Securities and Exchange Commission over their involvement in Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy.

Mr. Gasparino reported that the New York State Attorney General's office is looking to “force the firm into a very quick settlement, a settlement before he leaves office.”

He noted that, “Sources tell the Fox Business Network Ernst & Young is in preliminary talks to settle not with the New York Attorney General's Office but with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cuomo's office, according to sources close to Ernst & Young, is looking to force the firm into a very quick settlement.”

On whether the charges will be settled, Mr. Gasparino stated, “They believe a settlement this week is unlikely. They thought this thing was going to develop over a period of weeks and they don't have the people in place to settle right now. If he is going to charge them, he is going to charge them for technical reasons. One of those technical reasons. According to people at Ernst & Young is one of the lead investigators in Cuomo's office is on vacation.”