Causes and Loss: Pegasus vs Ernst & Young

In Pegasus vs Ernst & Young (23 March), the well-known firm of accountants is being sued for failing to advise the claimant company against acquiring business assets in a way that will or may, on their sale, give rise to a substantial charge in capital gains tax. The accountant, it is alleged, should have advised that the assets be “hived down” into subsidiary companies created for this purpose, which would have avoided this problem.