Ernst & Young (E&Y) has hit back over the arrest of one of its partners by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), saying the action was 'wholly unreasonable, unjustifiable and misconceived'. The partner, whose identity was not disclosed, was among 10 people arrested by the commission on Saturday. The chairman of main board-listed Global Trend Intelligent Technologies was arrested for allegedly offering bribes to help inflate the company's profit to secure a listing in June last year. Shares of the company, a Shanghai-based provider of advisory and management services for building projects in China, were suspended from trading yesterday, pending announcement of price-sensitive information. Ernst & Young last night issued a statement saying that while it was auditor and reporting accountant in Global Trend's listing, it was not involved in preparing any accounts or in the trading of the company's shares. 'E&Y's partners and staff have clarified and confirmed that they did not accept any advantage in relation to the aforesaid services rendered and the ICAC has not presented any evidence to show that E&Y partners and/or staff have accepted any advantage,' the accounting firm said. 'E&Y and its legal advisers both consider that the arrest of the E&Y partner was wholly unreasonable, unjustifiable and misconceived. E&Y is seeking legal advice as to the best course of action to take.' Those arrested also included Global Trend's financial controller and an executive director, along with an executive secretary of a manufacturing company, two directors and a clerk of an investment company, the proprietor of a consultancy firm and a merchant. ICAC did not disclose their identities. The ICAC investigation arose from a complaint alleging that Global Trend's chairman had offered bribes to inflate the company's turnover between 1999 and 2001 to meet the stock exchange's requirement of a combined profit of $60 million to secure a listing, ICAC said. It was further alleged that after its listing, the chairman had conspired with his executive director and others to manipulate the price of the company's shares. The chairman was also suspected of having misappropriated a substantial sum of money from the company. The company's shares closed at 30 cents last Friday, down from 68 cents when it listed in June last year.
