Category Archives: KPMG

‘Incredible failure’: KPMG rejects claims it assessed ‘the wrong company’ before $423m payment to Paladin

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Exclusive: Firm’s denial comes after weeks of intense criticism, including accusations that it misled parliament

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Consultancy firm KPMG Australia has rejected claims it conducted due diligence on “the wrong company” before the federal government gave nearly half a billion dollars to a controversial company with no track record.

The firm’s objection to comments by a member of a Senate inquiry examining its conduct come after weeks of intense criticism and accusations it repeatedly misled parliament over its use of so-called power maps, which identify influential decision makers within departments.

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Consultancy firms paid $40m to review safety of aged care homes did not meet government standards

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KPMG was among the four firms to have had reports rejected, a Senate inquiry heard, putting pressure on abandoning future outsourcing altogether

Four consultancy firms that were paid more than $40m to audit quality and safety in aged care homes have had reports rejected because they did not meet the standard required by the federal government.

The aged care quality and safety commissioner, Janet Anderson, has told a Senate inquiry the firms were “held to account” for their work and that there is an ongoing review about whether to rely on them as heavily in the future.

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Australian academics apologise for false AI-generated allegations against big four consultancy firms

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Case studies created by Google Bard AI as part of submission to parliamentary inquiry proven to be factually incorrect

A group of academics has offered an unreserved apology to the big four consultancy firms after admitting they used artificial intelligence to make false allegations of serious wrongdoing in a submission to a parliamentary inquiry.

The accusations have been met with scorn by the firms, concerned that inaccurate information has been given parliamentary privilege to unfairly tarnish the reputation of its staff.

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KPMG boss says Carillion auditing was ‘very bad’ as firm is fined record £21m

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Jon Holt says some employees ‘simply didn’t do their job properly’ in run-up to one of UK’s biggest corporate failures

The UK boss of KPMG has said he “simply cannot defend” the firm’s auditing work on the failed government contractor, Carillion, describing it as “very bad,” as the accounting giant was hit with a record £21m fine by Britain’s accounting watchdog.

The fine comes almost six years after the outsourcing firm collapsed with £7bn debts. Carillion had been one of the UK’s biggest construction and facilities management companies, with several major government contracts.

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Victorian government hired KPMG to consult on tobacco changes despite firm’s links to industry

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Exclusive: transparency advocates condemn arrangement as ‘appalling’ while health department refuses to say how much consultancy was paid

The Victorian government paid a consultancy firm that has spent decades working for big tobacco to lead the state’s consultation on changes to tobacco and vaping laws, before the process was abandoned.

The state’s health department has repeatedly declined to say how much KPMG was paid for the work this year and did not answer questions about whether the international firm’s long association with big tobacco and its ongoing work for the industry were declared.

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Federal government under fire for hiring KPMG on health and climate while firm advises fossil fuels

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Doctors and independent MPs say despite Labor’s reassurances, work should have been conducted by public servants and a clear conflict of interest exists

Doctors, health researchers and crossbench MPs have criticised the federal government for paying consultancy giant KPMG to help shape its national health and climate strategy, raising concerns about the firm’s work with the fossil fuel industry.

The new strategy, which will be delivered by the end of the year, will outline ways to ensure the health system is prepared for the impacts of climate change and suggest measures to reduce emissions.

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Australian government spending on big four consultancy firms up 1,270% in a decade, analysis shows

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PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY face scrutiny as critics warn core functions of democracy should not be outsourced

The amount of taxpayer money given to the big four consultancy firms for management advisory services has increased by more than 1,270% in a decade, according to new analysis from the Centre for Public Integrity.

The analysis comes as the big four face intense scrutiny after disclosing the misuse of government information and multiple conflicts of interest, as well as concerns that taxpayers are being ripped off for work the public service once conducted itself.

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Former KPMG partner urges royal commission into consulting industry following damning report into PwC scandal

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Whistleblower tells Senate inquiry into federal government’s use of consultants that ‘self-regulation is failing’ across the industry

A former KPMG partner turned whistleblower has urged the federal government to consider a royal commission into the consulting industry and to formally ban firms that breach legal and ethical standards.

In late 2021, Brendan Lyon told a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry that he was pressured to amend his work, which found the state’s budget was $10bn worse off than Treasury claimed.

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Economic growth to pick up but risks to recovery ‘elevated’, say UK forecasts

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Households and firms can expect more financial pain despite Britain dodging technical recession, says KPMG

Britain will be left with deep scars from the pandemic despite narrowly escaping a second recession within three years and growing signs of an economic pick up, according to new forecasts.

A new report by the accountancy firm KPMG has found that the economy has enjoyed a better start to the year than it had thought, and is now expected to grow by 0.3% this year, compared with its previous prediction of an uplift of just 0.1%.

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China instructs state firms to phase out big four auditors

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Firms urged to allow contracts with Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PwC to expire

The Chinese government has reportedly instructed state-owned companies to phase out contracts with the big four accounting including KPMG and EY, as authorities try to address security concerns and curb the influence of western-linked auditors.

China’s finance ministry is among the government entities that have issued informal guidance last month, urging state-owned corporations to let contracts with Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PwC expire, according to Bloomberg News.

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KPMG partner banned from accounting after misleading regulator over Carillion

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Peter Meehan, who led audit of failed outsourcer, will also have to pay fine of £250,000

The KPMG partner who led the audit of failed outsourcer Carillion has been banned from the accounting profession for a decade for providing false and misleading information to regulators.

Peter Meehan will also have to pay a fine of £250,000 after a Financial Reporting Council (FRC) tribunal found that he and other KPMG managers had misled the regulator using forged documents.

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UK employers take on workers at slower rate after fall in applicants

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Shortage of candidates since January means thousands of vacancies unfilled

UK employers increased the number of new staff in May at the slowest pace since early 2021 after a steep fall in the number of workers responding to job adverts.

After an increase in job switching by workers last year, often to secure higher pay, employers said the shortage of candidates since January meant they were unable to fill thousands of vacancies.

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KPMG’s Bill Michael resigns after telling staff to ‘stop moaning’

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Firm’s UK chair apologises for comments in virtual meeting about Covid crisis

KPMG’s UK chair, Bill Michael, has resigned after telling staff to “stop moaning” during a virtual meeting about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, where he also called unconscious bias “crap”.

Related: KPMG UK chair tells staff to 'stop moaning' about Covid work conditions

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‘Unconscious bias is utter crap’: KPMG staff share shock at UK chair’s Zoom comments

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Accounting firm investigates as more details emerge of meeting where Bill Michael told staff to stop moaning

New details have emerged of controversial comments by the UK chair of KPMG, who has stepped aside while the accounting firm investigates what he said to staff during a virtual meeting.

A video of the Zoom meeting was published on Thursday in which Bill Michael describes the concept of unconscious bias as being “complete and utter crap for years”.

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Failure to seal post-Brexit deal would more than halve UK growth, says KPMG

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Accountancy firm warns of stalled economic recovery without EU trade agreement

Failure to strike a post-Brexit trade deal would cut the UK’s economic growth rate by more than half next year, delaying a full recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report.

The accountancy firm KPMG said the economy would suffer heavily should the UK fail to secure a trade deal with the EU before the end of the Brexit transition period at the end of December, just as the country attempts to escape the deepest recession since records began.

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KPMG ends its backing for Prince Andrew’s mentorship scheme

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Accountancy firm not renewing sponsorship, it emerges, after much-criticised TV interview

The accountancy giant KPMG is not renewing its sponsorship of Prince Andrew’s entrepreneurial scheme Pitch@Palace, it has emerged, in the wake of his much-derided interview in which he defended his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

The Duke of York has been heavily criticised as having shown neither contrition nor sympathy for Epstein’s child victims in the BBC Newsnight interview and his suitability as patron to scores of charities and organisations has been called into question as a result.

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