Ernst & Young LLP will pay $10 million to settle a regulatory investigation into allegations that it improperly obtained confidential information in pursuit of a contract to audit a public company’s books.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also fined four accountants allegedly involved in the misconduct: an Ernst & Young partner, two retired partners and a former chief accounting officer of the unnamed client company who shared the competitive information with them, according to the agency.

Ernst & Young and the four accountants agreed to settle the SEC’s claims without admitting or denying misconduct.

Stiehl, the former chief accounting officer, worked in that role for Sealed Air Corp.

Stiehl rigged the competition to help Ernst & Young win Sealed Air’s multimillion-dollar audit contract.

Late in the bidding process, when Ernst & Young was a finalist for the work along with another accounting firm, Mr.