Clarification: Ernst & Young

ERNST & YOUNG has asked us to make the following points about our 12 September report on its role in the liquidation of the timber trading company John S Bass.

The firm says that Barrie Chapman, a former director of Bass, has made many complaints about E&Y's conduct, but that these have not been pursued beyond initial inquiries.

Mr Chapman's application to the High Court to have a partner of E&Y removed as liquidator was dismissed by the judge who said: 'This application was issued almost as a last gambler's throw to retrieve the situation which unfortunately had been brought about due to the inactivity on the part of the directors which inactivity was entirely of their own making.'