Four EY Partners Leave Following Loss of Shell Audit Engagement

Four partners have departed from Ernst & Young (EY) in the United Kingdom after the firm lost Shell as a statutory audit client due to violations of auditor independence rules.

According to reporting by the Financial Times, the departures include the former lead audit partner responsible for the Shell engagement, along with three additional partners. The issue relates to non-compliance with U.S. audit partner rotation requirements during the audits of Shell’s 2023 and 2024 financial statements.

The situation first became public in December 2025, when it was announced that the lead audit partner would step down. Shell disclosed that EY had breached U.S. rotation rules, which are designed to safeguard auditor independence by limiting how long a lead partner may serve on a specific audit engagement.

Subsequently, three more partners left the UK practice. Two of them specialized in the oil and gas sector, and one had only recently been promoted to partner in mid-2025. The third departing partner was responsible for regulatory compliance within EY’s UK organization. The developments reportedly followed an investigation by the UK regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), into the independence breach.

Neither EY nor the former partners provided further public comment.

PwC to Return as Auditor

Shell has appointed PwC as its new auditor beginning with the 2027 financial year. PwC previously served as Shell’s auditor until 2016, after which EY took over the engagement and later won the audit tender again in 2024.

Following the disclosure of the rotation rule violation, Shell’s audit committee reportedly decided to reopen the tender process, inviting both EY and PwC to submit proposals. In evaluating the bids, the committee considered factors such as independence, team composition, and regulatory compliance.

Why this matters

This case highlights the continued importance of strict compliance with auditor independence and rotation requirements, particularly for large, multinational clients subject to multiple regulatory frameworks.

For audit firms, the incident serves as a reminder that independence is not only a regulatory obligation but also central to maintaining client trust and market credibility. For companies, it underscores the importance of robust governance oversight in auditor selection and monitoring.

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Source & Credit:

This article is based on reporting by Accountant.nl (February 2026), referencing coverage by the Financial Times: “Verlies van Shell als controleklant zorgt voor vertrek van vier partners bij EY”