英语听力精选进阶版 14061

Ernst & Young sued over Lehman collapse¹

Summary

22 December 2010

The attorney general of New York is suing accountants Ernst and Young over fraud linked to the collapsed² investment bank Lehman Brothers. The state's prosecutor³ is seeking at least $150 million dollars in damages from the accountants. Caroline Hepker reports.

Reporter:

Caroline Hepker

Report

New York's attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, has accused one of America's leading accounting⁴ firms of helping⁵ to hide massive accounting fraud at Lehman Brothers in the years before the bank collapsed in September 2008.

Mr Cuomo says the accounting giant advised Lehman Brothers on obscuring US$50 billion through so-called Repo 105 transactions, which temporarily move liabilities off balance sheet. Ernst and Young has made no comment on the case, but the attorney general wants the firm to repay fees it received, totalling US$150 million, plus damages to investors⁶.

Ernst and Young was the outside auditor⁷ for Lehmans from 2001 until the firm's bankruptcy⁸ in September 2008. The failure of what had been a leading global financial firm triggered a crisis on Wall Street that tipped the world into deep recession.

Caroline Hepker, BBC News

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

3 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

4 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

7 auditor   

n.审计员，旁听着

参考例句：

• The auditor was required to produce his working papers.那个审计员被要求提供其工作底稿。
• The auditor examines the accounts of all county officers and departments.审计员查对所有县官员及各部门的帐目。

8 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。