EY Defends Split as Market Turmoil Adds Another Hurdle

EY is standing by its plan to split into two companies by mid-year despite choppy capital markets that could make the move pricier than expected.

Global Managing Partner Andy Baldwin said Thursday the group is moving toward an initial “soft” separation of the auditing and consulting businesses by July 1. The management teams will be in place “long before” that date, he said, and the process of allocating 13,000 partners and clients into two new businesses will be completed “before the holidays.”

The firm, which made $45 billion in revenue last year and audits more public companies in the US ...