Deloitte has agreed to a one-year suspension from providing consulting work to hundreds of financial institutions and will pay $10m to New York state in an unparalleled crackdown on independent consulting firms.
New York’s Department of Financial Services cited Deloitte’s “misconduct, violations of law, and lack of autonomy” in its review of anti-money laundering practices at Standard Chartered.
“At times, the consulting industry has been infected by an ‘I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine’ culture and stunning lack of independence,” said Ben Lawsky, superintendent of DFS. He added that the regulator’s work “investigating and reforming the consulting industry is far from over”.