KPMG faces day of reckoning over audit scandal and whistleblower claims | The Business | ABC NEWS

Описание: Big four accounting firm KPMG is facing a day of reckoning. The company is engulfed in a scandal that's already claimed the scalp of its chief executive Andrew Yates and threatened its government contracts. KPMG is facing allegations it misused confidential client information, covered up whistleblower claims and misled a parliamentary inquiry examining the sector. Now, the leadership team is bracing to front a parliamentary inquiry on June 19. Labor Senator Deborah O'Neill says "every Australian who has super should be concerned about what's going on in these big companies". The parliamentary committee has already recommended that large partnerships like KPMG and other consulting firms be regulated like companies.

In 2024, a former audit director raised concerns internally that confidential board papers from construction giant Lendlease were used to pitch for and win audit contracts for Westpac and Dexus. KPMG spent two years and three investigations examining the whistleblower's claims, something it now says was "not conducted with the necessary rigour". In March, under the protection of parliamentary privilege, Senator O'Neill aired the claims. She says "we'll continue to push this forward until we get a proper resolution of the safety that's necessary for our financial markets as an Australian economy." The 'big four' firms, KPMG, EY, Deloitte and PwC advise business and government and audit the books to make sure we can have confidence in the numbers. Just a few years ago, PwC was slammed for misusing confidential government information to help multinationals avoid tax. The arm dealing with public contracts was sold off for a dollar and still hasn't worked for the federal government. There are also big questions about KPMG's ability to hold onto private clients, well beyond companies like Optus, and others it's alleged to have misused the data of, in attempts to win new contracts.
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