Two Ex-KPMG Auditors Were Told By the SEC to Have a Seat On the Sidelines For a While
Two former KPMG auditors who worked on the ill-fated audit of a not-for-profit college agreed to having their wrists slapped by the SEC for their roles in the school’s collapse: The Securities and Exchange Commission today suspended two former KPMG auditors [Christopher Stanley and Jennifer Stewart] from practicing before the SEC in connection with settled […]
KPMG U.K. Chairman Makes Himself Scarce After Calling His Staff Whiny Little Bitches
[UPDATE] Bill Michael quit today, according to the Financial Times and other U.K. outlets. “I am truly sorry that my words have caused hurt amongst my colleagues and for the impact the events of this week have had on them,” Michael said in a statement on Friday. “In light of that, I regard my position […]
Layoff Watch ’19: KPMG U.K. Partners Fear the Zebra
KPMG U.K.’s better-late-than-never belt-tightening endeavor called “Project Zebra” is leaving carnage in its wake almost on a weekly basis. First, about a third of the firm’s 630 administrative assistants are losing their jobs. Then, employees had to give up their work-issued mobile phones. Next, average pay per partner is reportedly being cut by 10% over […]
KPMG U.K. Gives Its Cost-Cutting Plan a Stupid Codename
If Adrienne and I decide to do a second annual Going Concern Green Eyeshade Awards or Something Like That for 2019, I think we’ve found a winner of the “Dumbest Codename From a Big 4 Firm” award. From the Financial Times: KPMG has drawn up plans to save £100m in costs in a profit-boosting exercise […]
KPMG U.K.’s WhatsApp Fiasco Claims Two More Partners
Let’s take a look and see how things are going in KPMG U.K.’s financial services consulting business now that two more partners are leaving the firm after their boss was fired last month over messages he apparently sent on WhatsApp: The KPMG financial services consulting practice is now “a bit of a disaster zone,” a […]
WhatsApp, KPMG? U.K. Partner Given the Heave-Ho Over Messages He Sent
More hijinks going on at KPMG U.K., as reported yesterday by the Financial Times: KPMG has forced out the head of one of its core businesses in Britain after an investigation into his conduct involving messages sent on WhatsApp. Tim Howarth, head of financial services consulting at KPMG, is the third senior partner to be […]
Here’s Your Scorecard For KPMG U.K. Fines So Far In 2019
While I was vacationing in South Carolina last week, word officially came down from across the pond about the highly anticipated fine KPMG U.K. would be receiving from a Financial Reporting Council disciplinary tribunal for bungling reports on Bank of New York Mellon Corp. The tribunal let KPMG off the hook, deciding on a fine […]
Which KPMG Scandal Is Worse: PCAOB ‘Steal the Exam’ or CPE Training Exam Cheating?
Since Monday when the SEC announced it had fined KPMG $50 million for not one but two scandals involving auditor misconduct at the firm, I’ve been thinking about which scandal is worse. Is it KPMG audit partners stealing confidential information from rogue PCAOB employees in order to better the firm’s audit inspection scores OR is […]
KPMG U.K. Doesn’t Really Care If You Don’t Like How It Handled Complaints Against Partner Accused of Bullying
We were so busy trying to wrap our heads around the $50 million fine the SEC gave KPMG last week for its auditors’ involvement in two separate scandals and which of the two might be more damaging to the firm’s reputation that we missed a new article about the bullying allegations made against KPMG U.K. […]
Here’s More Proof That KPMG U.K. Totally F*cked Up the Way It Handled Bullying Allegations Against Partner
The Financial Times reported today that three—THREE—senior executives at KPMG U.K. were aware of and ignored concerns from staff as early as 2017 alleging senior partner Sanjay Thakkar was acting like a bully before they finally got around to launching an investigation about the complaints last October. KPMG employees approached the firm’s UK managing partner Philip […]
Another Day, Another Fine for KPMG
Here we go again … A U.K. regulator on Wednesday fined KPMG LLP and a partner at the firm after they admitted to misconduct in relation to the audit of financial statements of Co-operative Bank PLC. The Financial Reporting Council, Britain’s watchdog for accounting and audit, handed KPMG a fine of £5 million ($6.51 million) […]
KPMG Just Can’t Stay Out of Trouble
On this week’s episode of “KPMG Did Something Bad” … A U.K. regulator on Tuesday fined KPMG LLP and three executives after an investigation that found misconduct in relation to the audit of financial statements of a Lloyd’s of London insurance syndicate. The Financial Reporting Council, Britain’s watchdog for accounting and audit, fined KPMG £6 […]
KPMG Mexico Could Be Facing Fine of Up to $1.6 Million For Huge Data Leak Blunder
Mexican authorities said KPMG Mexico could be fined as much as 30 million pesos (about $1.57 million) for exposing the confidential payroll data of employees at 41 of its clients, which was housed in an unsecured database that wound up on the Internet. According to El Economista, the National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information […]
Apparently KPMG Mexico Exposed Some People’s Personal and Tax Information For All the World to See
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for KPMG, we have this news coming out of Mexico. And it seems really bad. José Soto Galindo of El Economista reported (translated from Spanish): A group of software developers of KPMG Mexico downloaded without authorization from their holders digital tax receipts from the Tax Administration […]
What Investment Bank Clients Are Really Saying: “KPMG are stupid”
Auditors – if you have ever suspected that your IB client contacts aren’t convinced of your intelligence, then your intuition is serving you well.
This also helps put the whole AIG/GS/PwC situation into a hilarious context.
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