the December 31, 1994 audit opinion as a “Report of Independent Auditors” for use in BT’s initial public offering prospectus, which included a statement of BT’s first quarter earnings for 1995. The audit upon which that report was based included a “full-scope” audit of several BT subsidiaries, but only a “limited review” of BT-Summit’s accounts.
In the fall of 1995, the firm began a new “full-scope” audit of BT-Summit. Pursuant to this effort, it discovered an under-accrual of BT-Summit’s accounts payable and alerted BT management. Upon consideration, however, Ernst & Young concluded that the under-accrual was not material and advised BT that it was probably a carryover of a similar under-accrual from the year before. Accordingly, the amended complaint avers that “on January 22, 1996 [Ernst & Young] signed off on BT Office Products’ 1995 financial statements ... and authorized [BT] to release its 1995 year end results with full knowledge of the fact that the market would and did interpret the release of these figures as having been approved by [Ernst & Young].” The amended complaint further states that based on Ernst & Young’s oral assurances, BT issued a press release on January 30, 1996 that set forth BT’s 1995 financial results and indicated strong growth during 1995. The press release also stated, however, that the figures were “unaudited” and it made no mention of Ernst & Young.
In late February and March of 1996, it became apparent to both BT and Ernst & Young that the under-accrual problem at BT-Summit was more serious than previously believed. A further investigation revealed not only that BT-Summit employees used improper accounting techniques, but substantial company funds had been embezzled. In light of these discoveries, BT announced on March 28, 1996 that it was restating its 1995 financial results from a previously announced profit of $1.5 million to a loss of $200,000. With that announcement, BT’s stock lost more than 25% of its value, injuring Wright and the other class members.
The amended complaint alleges that “due to [the firm’s] recklessness and failure to follow Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (‘GAAS’) [Ernst & Young, by electing to perform only a limited review of BT-Summit,] did not uncover the massive ‘accounting and financial reporting irregularities’ at BT-Summit.” Allegedly because of this recklessness, Wright and other class members purchased stock at an artificially inflated price and later suffered injury once BT’s true financial picture emerged.
In the proceedings before Judge Scheind-lin, Ernst & Young filed a motion to dismiss, arguing, inter alia, that because it did not itself make any false statement to the public, the amended complaint alleged nothing more than “aiding and abetting” liability, a form of Rule 10b-5 liability that the Supreme Court abolished in Central Bank of Denver v. First Interstate Bank of Denver, 511 U.S. 164, 114 S.Ct. 1439, 128 L.Ed.2d 119 (1994). In opposing that motion, Wright argued that the amended complaint properly alleged a 10b-5 violation because it alleged that Ernst & Young provided false and misleading advice to BT, knowing that the advice would be passed on to investors. Moreover, because Ernst & Young allegedly “signed-off’ or approved the financial information within that press release, Wright averred that the market understood the press release as an implied statement by Ernst & Young that the financial information contained therein was accurate. In reply, Ernst & Young pointed out that BT’s January 30, 1996 press release did not purport to repeat any statement made by Ernst & Young and that the press release expressly stated that the 1995 financial results were “unaudited.”
On September 9, 1997 Judge Scheindlin granted the motion to dismiss. In doing so, she rejected Wright’s argument that BT’s press release constituted an implied statement to the public that Ernst & Young had approved BT’s financial statements, noting that such a claim was refuted by BT’s statement in the press release that the 1995 financial results were “unaudited.” See Wright, 1997 WL 563782, at 2. Further, the court observed that transforming that disclaimer into a guarantee of the statement’s accuracy would “seriously deter disclosure of unaudited financial information.” Id.* The court also observed that sustaining the amended complaint in light of Ernst & Young’s “clearly