* No disagreements with Deloitte says UAL
* ‘Compelling proposals’ for the audit word cited (Adds company note to employees)
LOS ANGELES, July 28 (Reuters) - UAL Corp UAUA.O, parent of United Airlines, has dismissed Deloitte & Touche LLP [DLTE.UL] and hired Ernst & Young [ERNY.UL] as its accounting firm for 2010, the company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.
UAL said the dismissal of Deloitte will become effective following the conclusion of Deloitte’s 2009 fiscal year audit for UAL.
The airline company also said Deloitte’s reports on UAL’s and United’s consolidated financial statements for each of the years ended Dec. 31, 2008 and 2007 did not contain an adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion.
In a message to employees, UAL said it had “no accounting disagreements with Deloitte” and intended to maintain a positive relationship with the firm should future work be needed.
It also noted that the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley governance law requires public companies to rotate the lead audit partner of their independent public accounting firm every five years, and added that firms often choose to seek bids for audit work in anticipation of that rotation.
“Both firms put together compelling proposals in their bids for the audit work,” Kathryn Mikells, UAL executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in the employee message, a copy of which was sent to Reuters. “Ernst & Young brings significant breadth and depth of audit experience in the airline industry.” (Reporting by Deena Beasley and Karen Jacobs; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
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