Not exactly the best way to start a new job:
Deloitte said the chief executive of its Dutch arm had stepped down with immediate effect after breaking internal rules on owning stakes in companies whose books are audited by the accountancy firm. Deloitte Netherlands CEO Piet Hein Meeter, who took up the job on Jan. 1, did not take any decisions about the stakes he held nor was he involved in auditing companies in which he held stakes, Deloitte said on Monday.
Now maybe the Dutch do things a little differently than, say, the United States but imagine for a second the vetting Joe Echevarria had to go through before he officially became CEO of the U.S. firm. This is a snafu of monstrous proportions and what do they blame it on? Timing:
Because of Meeter starting as CEO, internal compliance studies were done earlier in the year than usual, resulting in the rule violation being discovered, Deloitte said.
Yep! They weren't expecting that little compliance exercise until later in the year, so good ol' Piet didn't have the time to dump my shares of an audit client. If we had all the details, maybe But because this is a man that serves as an example for thousands of Dutch employees (and this is a public relations nightmare), Meeter is doing the right thing:
"Precisely because of his role model as CEO, Piet Hein Meeter, in consultation with the supervisory board, decided to step down with immediate effect as CEO and board member of Deloitte Netherlands in the interest of the organisation," Deloitte said.
This is your role model, little green dots.
