Local partners at EY in Netherlands asked to top up buffers

EY’s Dutch unit is asking its partners in the Netherlands to stump up funding to help it confront the blow to its business from COVID-19 measures.

Partners have been requested to add varying amounts to their private company bank accounts linked to EY, people familiar with the matter said, adding that the total contribution equals tens of millions of euros. EY has about 263 partners in the Netherlands, according to its annual report.

The firm — formerly known as Ernst & Young — is seeking to ensure that its buffers are strong enough to counter the impact of Europe slipping into recession because of the coronavirus. The eurozone’s economy will contract 6.4 percent this year and Dutch GDP 5 percent, according to the median estimate from bank economists.

A spokesman for the firm in the Netherlands declined to comment.

Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Bloomberg

EY is one the four largest accounting firms in the world, together with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC. The so-called Big Four operate in local partnership structures, meaning that the organizations are governed and owned locally by a group of partners who divide the profits but which also absorb potential losses.

Ernst & Young in the Netherlands generated 877 million euros in revenue in the financial year ending in June 2019. Accountancy services were good for 40 percent of the turn-over and tax advisory took up roughly 30 percent. The rest comes from other services such as deal advisory and consultancy.