Deloitte yesterday reached an accord with Parmalat, agreeing to pay $149m (€115m) to settle allegations that the audit firm helped to prolong fraud at the Italian dairy company prior to its collapse at the end of 2003.

Deloitte has not admitted wrongdoing and it has the option to cancel the agreement for $15m if some final legal hurdles are not cleared. However, if the payment goes through it will bring to about €600m the amount that the new management at Parmalat has so far recovered from the dozens of lawsuits it has filed against auditors and financial institutions.