What is the biggest crisis that a Big 4 auditing firm or any accountant could face?

How about admitting that your audit professionals cheated on the ethics component of CPA exams and various continuing education courses required to maintain professional licenses?

Ernst & Young fessed up June 28 as the Securities and Exchange Commission slapped it with a $100M fine, the largest penalty ever imposed by the SEC against an audit firm.

Gurbir Grewal, SEC’s enforcement director, summed up EY's shocking breach of trust quite nicely.

“This action involves breaches of trust by gatekeepers within the gatekeeper entrusted to audit many of our nation’s public companies. It’s simply outrageous that the very professionals responsible for catching cheating by clients cheated on ethics exams of all things.”

EY confessed that during the SEC probe, it claimed to have “no current issues with cheating when, in fact, the firm had been informed of potential cheating on a CPA ethics exam,” according to the SEC’s statement.

The firm also admitted that it did not correct its SEC statement “even after it launched an internal investigation into cheating on CPA ethics and other exams and confirmed there had been cheating, and even after its senior lawyers discussed the matter with members of the firm’s senior management.”

The Wall Street Journal has reported that EY plans to split itself into an audit company and a consulting firm.

The SEC probe may put those plans on hold. What company wants to have its books reviewed by an ethically-challenged firm?

Not exactly the “Love Boat.” Business at Carnival Cruise Line has been booming since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its COVID-19 guidance on March 30.

Its buoyant CEO Arnold Donald predicted cruise occupancy rates will approach 110 percent during the third quarter.

A PR disaster such as a “huge dance floor brawl” has the potential to bring Donald back to Earth.

And that’s exactly what happened on June 28.

Chaos erupted in a nightclub on Carnival Magic while it sailed under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge on the way to Manhattan after an eight-day cruise.

Carnival’s overwhelmed security forces had to send a SOS to the Coast Guard as a fight broke out among 40 to 60 revelers.

The fisticuffs, which began as a squabble between two people, rapidly escalated into an all-out brawl as other passengers joined the fray.

The Coast Guard had to escort the Carnival Magic to Manhattan’s Pier 88.

Carnival put some PR spin on the situation, terming the melee “an altercation” and noted that “no serious injuries were reported.”

Matt Lupoli, senior PR manager, said: “The ship arrived as scheduled this morning and authorities were notified and met the ship to interview suspects and witnesses and conduct an investigation.”

Carnival used to market its fleet as “fun ships” due to their enhanced dining, bars and entertainment offerings.

Will it now be promote “fight ships?”

Glimmer of hope for the downtrodden Democrats. The media are predicting that the Democrats are going to be killed in the midterm elections.

Those reports may not turn out to be true, thanks to the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade.

An NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll released June 27 found that a solid majority of Americans (56 percent) oppose the Supreme Court’s ruling. Forty percent support the decision.

Nearly eight-in-ten (78 percent) of Democrats say anti-abortion rulings make it more likely that they will vote in the midterms, compared to 54 percent of Republicans.

Nearly half (48 percent) of respondents say they want Democrats to retain control of Congress. That’s up from 44 percent in April.

Support for Republican control of Congress fell to 41 percent from 47 percent in April.

The Supreme Court’s trashing of Roe vs. Wade may light a fire under dispirited Democrats and turn the projected rout into a victory.

Of course, inflation, high gas prices and a potential recession may restore Republican majorities in the Senate and House.