Convicted Ex-KPMG Partner David Middendorf Suspended By the SEC
Another “KPMG 5” executive who will be serving prison time for his role in a scheme to steal confidential audit inspection lists from the PCAOB was suspended today from appearing or practicing before the Securities and Exchange Commission as an accountant. The SEC released the following two-page order of suspension against David Middendorf, former national […]
What Do You Guys Think of the KPMG Lakehouse Logo?
I don’t know about you but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Kamp KPMG’s logo on a park district aquatic center or on some flood safety brochure. View this post on Instagram A post shared by KPMG U.S. Careers (@kpmg_us_careers) Related articles: Kamp KPMG Puts Out a Welcome Mat Kamp KPMG Will Officially Be Called KPMG […]
Kamp KPMG Puts Out a Welcome Mat
Konstruction on KPMG Lakehouse is finally komplete, and the first group of kampers will descend upon the Orlando community of Lake Nona, FL, next week. New York-based Big Four auditing firm KPMG LLP will bring its first round of “learners” to the $450 million, 780,000-square-foot KPMG Lakehouse in Lake Nona starting on Jan. 6, company […]
Whitley Penn Poaches Someone From KPMG and Issues a Press Release, Part I
As 2019 winds down, we’d be remiss not to tell you guys that another KPMGer has recently left the House of Klynveld for the greener pastures of an accounting firm outside of the top 25. Earlier this month it was David Roberts leaving KPMG for Mauldin & Jenkins. Now we have Michael Pham who left […]
Let’s Kongratulate KPMG For Getting *This* Close to $30 Billion of Global Revenue In 2019
Coming off the heels of a better-than-expected 2019 financial year at its U.K. firm (revenues, anyway), puffy-chested KPMG announced today that its global revenue increased 6.2% in local currency terms (or 2.7% using actual mathematics) for the year ended Sept. 30. The three other Big 4 firms posted global revenue of at least $30 billion […]
Mauldin & Jenkins Poaches Someone From KPMG and Issues a Press Release, Part I
Last night me and my wife watched an episode of the Netflix series The Toys That Made Us about professional wrestling figures and how popular those toys were in the 1980s and ’90s. In that episode, it talked about Vince McMahon committing the ultimate sin when he took over the World Wrestling Federation from his […]
KPMG Poaches Someone From Deloitte and Issues a Press Release, Part I
Competitive poaching of PPMDs among midtier accounting firms has been rampant lately, whether they are taking people away from the Big 4 or from other midtier firms. Even the FASB isn’t immune from being poached. While watching the hiring games these firms are playing is fun and all, we’ve been patiently waiting for some Big […]
Jailed Ex-KPMG Executive Director Barred By the SEC Because Why Not?
Cynthia Holder, one of the “KPMG 5” who was sentenced to eight months in federal prison in August for her role in a scheme to steal confidential audit inspection information from the PCAOB, was “denied the privilege” of appearing or practicing before the SEC as an accountant, the commission announced on Nov. 29. The SEC […]
Auditor Swap: It’s Curtains For KPMG as AMC Theatres’ Outside Audit Firm
AMC Entertainment Holdings put out a casting call for a new external auditor, and EY got the role. Kansas City Business Journal reported: AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. will switch its accounting firm at the end of the year. The Leawood-based theater chain picked Ernst & Young, replacing KPMG LLP. AMC paid KPMG more than $12.7 million in audit, audit-related […]
KPMG Takes Victory Lap In Merrimack College Financial Aid Fraud Case
Merrimack College suffered two defeats on/in court yesterday. Its men’s basketball team got blown out by the Providence Friars 93-56. And it lost a case in a courtroom in Massachusetts to KPMG, although the jury found that KPMG wasn’t completely blameless in the student loan fraud case. Law360 reported: A Boston jury said negligence by […]
RSM Poaches Someone From KPMG and Issues a Press Release, Part I
Scott Wilson has more than 15 years of professional experience “helping businesses innovate, transform, and grow.” RSM US was in need of a new audit innovation leader. So it was a match made in heaven, or the cloud, or whatever. RSM US LLP (“RSM”) – the nation’s leading provider of audit, tax and consulting services […]
Accountants Behaving Badly: Ex-KPMG Auditor Detained, Stealing From Clients, Ripping Off Boss
Plus, healthcare accountant sentenced to two years in jail for embezzlement, and tax preparer gets three years for filing fraudulent tax returns. Auditor detained after saying devil told him to kill his sister [Metro U.K.] Khalid Ashraf, who had worked as an auditor for KPMG for eight years until October 2018, pleaded guilty to manslaughter […]
Promotion Watch ’19: KPMG Admits 138 New U.S. Partners
We’re about T-minus 30 days until KPMG releases its global revenue for fiscal year 2019. In the meantime, we got word on who the newest rainmakers in the Americas region will be for FY 2020. KPMG gave 266 lucky boys and girls in the Americas keys to the partnership. Of those 266, 138 are from […]
Even the Hearing Impaired Will Know How Cheesy KPMG’s Latest Lakehouse Video Is
Here are some screenshots from the latest over-the-top KPMG Lakehouse video to illustrate what we mean: Here’s the actual video. If you’re not hearing impaired, you might wish that you were while watching it, not only because of the cheesy music but for the “how we can stress right across our organization what it […]
KPMG Heads to Court Next Week to Defend Itself for Being KPMG
Merrimack College in North Andover, MA, is trying to get some of that Klynveld money, alleging in a lawsuit that KPMG committed professional malpractice, breach of contract, negligence, and negligent misrepresentation. From Courtroom View Network: Accounting giant KPMG heads to trial next week in Massachusetts state court in a malpractice lawsuit filed by Merrimack College […]
Ex-PCAOBer Jeffrey Wada Gets Prison Time For Being a Blabbermouth In KPMG Scheme
Being passed up for a promotion can cause a person to do really dumb things in a fit of anger. For now-former PCAOB inspections leader Jeffrey Wada, the really dumb thing he did was illegally tip off executives at KPMG—not once but twice—about which KPMG audits the PCAOB would be reviewing so the firm could […]
Another One of the ‘KPMG 5’ Has Pleaded Guilty In PCAOB Scheme
David Britt is the latest former KPMG partner who has admitted guilt for participating in a scheme to steal confidential audit inspection information from the PCAOB. Britt, 56, who was a co-leader of KPMG’s Banking and Capital Markets Group, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Oct. 3. His trial […]
Mazars Poaches Someone From KPMG and Issues a Press Release, Part I
When Mazars USA isn’t getting subpoenaed for Donald Trump’s tax returns, it’s snagging people away from the Big 4, in particular, KPMG. Olga Blyweiss is one of the newest members of Club M, recently joining the firm as a tax partner in its Fort Washington, PA, office. In a previous life, Blyweiss was the managing […]
Ex-KPMG Partner David Middendorf Was Spared a Lengthy Prison Sentence
A second member of the “KPMG 5” will serve jail time for his involvement in an information-stealing scheme to cheat the PCAOB inspection process. David Middendorf, former national managing partner for audit quality and professional practice at KPMG, was sentenced this morning in Manhattan federal court to one year and one day in federal prison, […]
Ex-KPMG Partner’s Request to Have His Wire Fraud Conviction Thrown Out Gets Shot Down, Crashes, Burns
Welp, so much for that. David Middendorf, former national managing partner for audit quality and professional practice at KPMG, is scheduled to be sentenced in Manhattan federal court tomorrow, according to Law360, for his role in an information-stealing scheme in which PCAOB insiders fed KPMG executives secret plans on which of the Big 4 firm’s […]
Meanwhile, In Canada: Rich Guys Are Still Fighting the Tax Man Over Their KPMG Offshore Tax Shelter
KPMG is in the news again this week, and again it’s for something they probably wish would go away. Now, I combed our extensive archive going back 10 years (read: spent five minutes Googling) and wasn’t able to find any coverage of this case save for an ANR link here and there, which means either […]
Let’s Speculate About Why Lynne Doughtie Is Leaving KPMG
When we got a tip Friday mid-morning that Lynne Doughtie had told KPMG U.S. staff in a video message that she wouldn’t seek another term as chairman and CEO, I wasn’t all that surprised. I figured she’d be one and done. Doughtie seems like a nice, hardworking, intelligent woman. I don’t think KPMG would have […]
Exclusive: Lynne Doughtie Is Not Seeking a Second Term as KPMG Chairman and CEO
Another Big 4 firm will soon have a new person residing in the corner office. First, Cathy Engelbert was not renominated late last year for a second four-year term as Deloitte CEO. She was succeeded by Joe Ucuzoglu and took over as the new commish of the WNBA. Then Mark Weinberger announced last December that […]
Deloitte Gets Big 4 Bragging Rights In 2020 Vault Consulting 50
For the fifth consecutive year, Deloitte Consulting has been ranked the fourth-best consulting firm in the United States (although the governor of Rhode Island might beg to differ), according to the latest Vault Consulting 50. So once again, Green Dotters of the consulting variety have bragging rights over P. Dubsteppers, Uncle Ernie’s nieces and nephews, […]
Accounting Fraud Watch: GE Bigger Than Enron?, Brixmor Bad, SEC Piles On Power Solutions Execs
A certain report about General Electric caused quite the uproar yesterday. GE falls the most in 11 years after Madoff whistleblower calls it a ‘bigger fraud than Enron’ [CNBC] Boy, did Harry Markopolos send shares of GE into a tizzy on Aug. 15: Markopolos targeted the conglomerate in a new report, accusing it of issuing […]
Ex-KPMG Partner’s Broker Probably Won’t Be Doing Any Insider Trading For a While
The last man standing in the KPMG insider trading case (the one not involving Scott London) has finally fallen. From the SEC: Today [Aug. 14], jurors in Atlanta federal court returned a verdict finding New Jersey securities broker Raymond J. Pirrello, Jr. liable for insider trading in advance of three merger and acquisition transactions. Pirrello […]
Ex-KPMG Executive Director Who Was Major Player In PCAOB Cheating Scandal Sentenced to Eight Months In Jail
The first prison sentence was handed out today in Manhattan federal court to one of the five former KPMG executives indicted in a scheme to steal confidential audit inspection information from the PCAOB. Cynthia Holder, a former PCAOB inspections leader who later worked as an executive director at KPMG, was sentenced to eight months in […]
DHG Poaches Someone From KPMG and Issues a Press Release, Part I
It’s been quite the summer for Dixon Hughes Goodman. The firm promoted seven individuals who oozed out the most DHGness to the partnership in early June, joined some lame alliance with Mazars in July, and was recently named the 17th top accounting firm in the U.S. by both Accounting Today and INSIDE Public Accounting. The […]
Ex-KPMG Partner Will Be Giving the SEC a Bag Full of Money
We have an update on one of the members of Caleb’s fantasy KPMG insider trading golf team. From Law360: With a trial looming, a Georgia federal judge has granted approval of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s settlement with a former KPMG LLP partner accused of tipping off a stockbroker about the upcoming acquisitions of […]
KPMG: Where Former College Athletes Go to Die
And a two-time Winter Olympic gold medalist too. From the Wall Street Journal: Accounting firm KPMG hires 3,500 college students each year in the U.S., and although the firm doesn’t target or track specific sports in its hiring, James Powell, national partner in charge of campus recruiting, says that he’s noticed that baseball, softball, swimming and diving […]
What Price Wrong-Doing? Sanctions Against KPMG Are Complicated
“Sell in May and go away” was an investors’ adage invoked as vacation strategy in a more genteel era. Returns in the summer were said to lag the rest of the year—and in any event, that’s how brokers justified their holiday cottages on the eastern seaboard. This year the maxim has twice failed my attempt […]
Auditor Swap: KPMG No Longer a Smash Hit with Movie Theater Chain Cineworld
Sometimes relationships outlive their usefulness, especially when one partner takes the beer goggles off and realizes that the other partner has been acting kinda shady lately, become too expensive to be with, and the old adage, “You can’t put lipstick on a pig,” seems more fitting each day. That expensive pig with lipstick on is […]
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 […]
Auditor Swap: Papa John’s Dumps KPMG For Its Ex, Ernst & Young
Sometimes the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Pizza chain Papa John’s must have realized this as it’s dropping KPMG as its independent auditor in favor of EY, which audited the company’s financial statements from 1990 to 2017. EY will take over Papa John’s external auditing duties for the fiscal year ending Dec. […]
SEC Says $50 Million Fine For KPMG Is ‘Significant’ and ‘Appropriate’ For All That Cheating Going On
The SEC made official today the news that Dave Michaels of the Wall Street Journal broke late last week, announcing that KPMG will pay $50 million to settle allegations that former partners “stole the test” by using confidential information that was being fed to them by a PCAOB insider to improve the firm’s performance on […]
$50 Million Fine SEC Is Reportedly Giving KPMG Over PCAOB Scandal Isn’t Big Enough
Dave Michaels of the Wall Street Journal broke some huge news late last night about a huge fine the SEC could levy against KPMG later this month because of several former partners’ involvement in one of the biggest U.S. accounting scandals in recent years—stealing secret audit inspection information from the PCAOB. KPMG LLP is preparing […]
Mother Nature Vandalized a Bunch of Windows at KPMG Building In Dallas
A powerful storm with high winds hit the Dallas area during the afternoon on June 9, blowing out the windows of some downtown skyscrapers, including the building where KPMG is located. The NBC affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth reported: At the KPMG building downtown, nearly a dozen windows were broken when construction debris from another building […]
KPMG Can Now Say It Has a Canada’s Sports Hall of Famer Among Its Ranks
Two-time Olympic gold medal-winning freestyle skier-turned-KPMGer Alex Bilodeau is one of eight people who will be inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame this year. He’s with some pretty impressive company, as the 2019 class also includes three-time Stanley Cup champion goalie Martin “Uncle Daddy” Brodeur and four-time Olympic gold medal-winning Canadian women’s hockey player […]
Ex-KPMG Partner David Middendorf Believes He’s Been Done Wrong, Wants a Crack At a New Trial
Don’t get out those orange prison jumpsuits just yet for former KPMG partner David Middendorf and former PCAOB inspections leader Jeffrey Wada. The two men are asking a Manhattan federal court to throw out their wire fraud convictions or grant them a new trial, saying the government didn’t provide enough evidence to support the guilty […]
KPMG Gets Another Award For Being the Big 4 Firm That Is the Least Old, Male, and Pale
Did you guys see DiversityInc’s 2019 ranking of the top 50 companies for diversity? In past years, there’s been most, if not all, of the Big 4 represented. But not recently. Only one Big 4 firm made the list in 2018 and 2019, and that firm is KPMG. Maybe KPMG nearly sweeping Vault’s 2020 accounting […]
Grant Thornton Poaches Someone From KPMG and Issues a Press Release, Part II
In the comment section of an article we posted on May 10 about a managing director and a partner recently fleeing KPMG to join Grant Thornton’s Corporate Value Consulting practice, we got a tip that the Purple Rose of Chicago recently poached KPMG again—Candice Turner left the HoK to join GT as a principal in […]
Grant Thornton Poaches Two People From KPMG and Issues a Press Release, Part I
A couple of months ago, we reported that a partner and a principal bolted Grant Thornton earlier this year for the blue-and-white confines of KPMG, one of whom actually left and came back to the House of Klynveld. Well, it looks like the Purple Rose of Chicago has turned the tables on KPMG. Grant Thornton […]
IRS Poaches a KPMG Managing Director and Issues a Press Release, Part I
The IRS has itself a new associate chief counsel, international, in the Office of the Chief Counsel, and the agency plucked him away from our favorite four-letter Big 4 firm. Peter Blessing is his name, and international tax law is his game. “We are very fortunate to attract an individual of his caliber and expertise,” […]
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 […]
This Slo-Mo KPMG Ignition Center Ribbon-Cutting Video Is Oddly Amusing
KPMG and the city of Chicago broke out the giant scissors on April 9, officially opening KPMG’s seventh and largest Ignition Center, located on the 68th floor of the Aon Center. I honestly could care less about the new Ignition Center. If for some reason you do, you can read more about it here. But […]
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 […]
Ex-KPMG Executive Director’s Sentencing Put Off Until June
We won’t know until June at the earliest how much prison time former KPMG executive director Cynthia Holder will get for her involvement in a scheme to steal confidential audit inspection information from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Holder was supposed to be sentenced in Manhattan federal court on April 5, but her sentencing […]
KPMG Bermuda’s Head of Ethics Fined By the PCAOB For Being Unethical
Here’s a fun story of what not to do if you’re an ethics director at a Big 4 firm. Damion Henderson, a managing director at KPMG Bermuda, was fined $10,000 by the PCAOB on April 9 for signing off on documents that had been re-created and backdated in advance of a PCAOB inspection and not […]
Kamp KPMG Will Officially Be Called KPMG Lakehouse, According to Over-the-Top Teaser Video
KPMG released a one-minute video yesterday teasing KPMG Lakehouse, its new $450 million training and development center that is scheduled to open next January in the Orlando community of Lake Nona. And woo-boy, is it cheesy—replete with uplifting music, black turtlenecks, people using tablets, selfies, and the sun glistening off the water. Located on a […]
Ex-KPMG Partner’s Fraud Trial: David Middendorf and Jeffrey Wada GUILTY!
A Manhattan jury on Monday convicted former KPMG partner David Middendorf and former Public Company Accounting Oversight Board staffer Jeffrey Wada for their roles in one of the biggest accounting scandals in recent years. Law360 court reporter Jack Newsham broke the news on Twitter earlier this afternoon: https://twitter.com/TheNewsHam/status/1105198618003324930 https://twitter.com/TheNewsHam/status/1105202676642578435 Newsham wrote that the verdict could […]
KPMG Appeals One-Year Auditing Suspension In Oman, Loses
KPMG couldn’t talk its way out of trouble, as an independent appellate court in Oman recently upheld a securities regulator’s ruling last November that prohibits the firm from taking on any new auditing clients for one year. In a statement on March 3, the Capital Market Authority of the Sultanate of Oman said: “Capital Market […]
KPMG Poaches Someone From Grant Thornton and Issues a Press Release, Parts I and II
We here at GC HQ love a good poaching, especially when it involves two of the top six firms in the U.S. So we were happy to see this press release from KPMG come across our virtual desk this morning: Mark Rems has joined KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm, as a principal […]
Ex-KPMG Partner’s Fraud Trial: David Middendorf Takes the Stand
Law360 court reporter Jack Newsham wrote on Feb. 28 that it could happen this week, and he was right: Former KPMG partner David Middendorf took the stand this afternoon to testify in his own defense. https://twitter.com/TheNewsHam/status/1102661422411063296 Authorities have said that Middendorf and four of his former KPMG colleagues—Thomas Whittle, Brian Sweet, David Britt, and Cynthia […]
Ex-KPMG Partner’s Fraud Trial: What David Middendorf Allegedly Said Once the Scheme Started to Unravel
OK guys, things are starting to get good in the David Middendorf trial. We now know the identity of “Partner-5”—the person at KPMG who allegedly blew the whistle on the information-stealing scheme that five KPMG executives and one Public Company Accounting Oversight Board employee were involved in to help KPMG know ahead of time which […]
Ex-KPMG Partner’s Fraud Trial: Brian Sweet Takes the Stand
The trial of ex-KPMG partner David Middendorf keeps rolling along, as prosecutors on Feb. 19 called on one of the major players in the scheme to steal secret audit inspection information from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to testify against Middendorf. Brian Sweet, a former associate director at the PCAOB who later became a […]
Legal Experts Think KPMG France Will Likely Get Away With Fidal Lawyer Poaching
Early last week we told you guys about KPMG France recently stealing away 130 lawyers (some reports say 144 or 145 lawyers) away from France’s largest law firm, Fidal, which is threatening to sue the Big 4 firm for “unfair competition.” But legal experts who were interviewed by Law.com say Fidal’s case against KPMG is […]
Ex-KPMG Partner’s Fraud Trial: Opening Arguments
A jury heard opening arguments in a Manhattan courtroom on Feb. 12 in the trial of a former high-ranking audit partner at KPMG who was charged with conspiracy and wire fraud for his role in a scheme to cheat the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board inspection process. David Middendorf and co-defendant Jeffrey Wada, a former […]
KPMG France Just Poached 130 Lawyers From a French Law Firm, Which Is Understandably Pissed
In Going Concern’s nine-plus-year history, Caleb and Adrienne have chronicled many, many instances of “competitive poaching” among the Big 4 firms. PwC and KPMG, in particular, have a long history of poaching from one another. But with the Big 4 firms’ legal brands showing huge growth among alternative legal service providers, what is starting to […]
Good News, KPMG: At Least Your Badness of Late Didn’t Rub Off on Phil Mickelson
I know things have been kinda rough lately, Klynveldians. KPMG’s 2016 and 2017 Public Company Accounting Oversight Board inspection reports were brutally bad. The criminal trial starts today for one of your former audit partners who had a prominent role in the PCAOB inspection information-sharing scandal. The firm might lose longtime client General Electric. And […]
The PCAOB Needs to Just Beat the Sh*t Out of KPMG Already
Story time. Many, many years ago when my favorite show was the Snorks and my Big Wheel was my only mode of transportation, there was this kid on my block who was a real little shit. He constantly broke everyone’s toys and once ran over my plastic Good Luck Bear with his bike, permanently rendering […]
KPMG’s Logo May or May Not Give You Heartburn
Is KPMG’s new marketing plan for 2019 to have its people and distinguished guests at conferences devour the firm’s logo? Great morning of education at the Annual KPMG Board Leadership Conference. Plus a fun little treat at lunch. pic.twitter.com/xtthJyFWKr — philipsmith (@PRS2) January 8, 2019 Our cupcake overfloweth…. celebrating our new office space in […]
KPMG IT Advisory Associate Looking for Love on ‘The Bachelor’
I don’t watch reality TV shows. They are dumb. They are contrived. They are overrated. I don’t get why so many people watch them. I would rather watch six hours straight of C-SPAN than watch a six-hour marathon of Say Yes to the Dress. If Caillou and Keeping Up with the Kardashians were the only […]
Longtime KPMG Client General Electric Looking to Mess Around with Another Audit Firm
109 years. That’s how long KPMG has been General Electric’s auditor. When that engagement started, the rotund William Howard Taft was in the White House, there were 46 states in the U.S., and the start of World War I and Babe Ruth’s professional baseball career were still five years away. But the spark in the […]
KPMG Reports Global Revenue of $29 Billion for FY 2018
Back in early October, the Going Concern prognostication team (me, Adrienne, and three people eating lunch at Panda Express) predicted that KPMG’s global revenue for fiscal year 2018 would be $28.1 billion. With word today that KPMG reported global revenue of $28.96 billion for the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, 2018, we were […]
KPMG Got Down on Its Knees and Begged South Africa for Forgiveness
South Africa, KPMG is sorry. Sorry for doing work for the billionaire Gupta family, who has been accused of using their links to former South Africa president Jacob Zuma to influence government decisions and the awarding of government contracts. Sorry for making severe auditing mistakes that led to the collapse of VBS Mutual Bank, in […]
Federal Judge Sides with KPMG in Gender Discrimination Lawsuit
KPMG scored a huge victory in court on Nov. 30, as a New York federal court judge declined to certify a long-running class-action lawsuit by thousands of current and former female KPMG tax and advisory professionals who accused the firm of gender, pay, and promotion discrimination dating back to 2008. While the ruling bars the […]
Female KPMG Employees Seek Class Status in Gender Discrimination Lawsuit, Detail Alleged Sexual Misconduct at the Firm
There was a new development yesterday in the long-running gender bias lawsuit against KPMG, in which a group of current and former female advisory and tax professionals have accused the firm of gender, pay, and promotion discrimination, as well as condoning sexual harassment. Attorneys representing the plaintiffs filed a motion on Nov. 27 that asked […]
Ignatius Sehoole Takes Over as CEO of the Dumpster Fire That Is KPMG South Africa
KPMG in South Africa has had its problems of late. And the firm believes it has found the man to help fix them. Good luck, Ignatius Sehoole! KPMG South Africa is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Ignatius Sehoole as Chief Executive Officer. Mr Sehoole is expected to take up this role on 1 […]
KPMG Is Thankful for SOX
I was kinda wondering about this myself, but I figured the answer would be no. From Tammy Whitehouse of Compliance Week: KPMG is under fire in the U.K. for diminishing audit performance, particularly in connection with the collapse of British construction firm Carillion. The firm has reportedly advised its partners internally that it would halt all […]
KPMG Adds Another Independent Warm Body to Its Board of Directors
KPMG has given retired Air Force General Janet Wolfenbarger a friend on its board of directors. KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, is pleased to announce the appointment of Linda L. Addison as an independent director to its U.S. Board of Directors. Addison is the second distinguished independent director the Firm has […]
University of Michigan to Ex-KPMG Recruiter: ‘Keep Your Horny Ass Off Campus’
Last month, we met Scott Vetere, a 39-year-old father of three from Michigan who made a name for himself in collegiate sports in the late ’90s and early 2000s before that legacy was trumped by a series of poor choices and a little bit of hot car sex this year. In case you need a […]
KPMG Gets One-Year Auditing Ban in Oman
2018 has been a no-good, rotten year for KPMG. The firm has been embroiled in accounting scandals in the United States and South Africa, was told by the United Kingdom’s accounting regulator that its audit quality sucks, defended an indefensible audit of the now-collapsed Carillion in the U.K., was fined £4.5 million in the U.K. […]
Dear Slobs and Whores with No Fashion Sense, This KPMG Video is Just For You
Those of you who know me know it’s rare that I’m speechless. I have an opinion on everything from cat food to those little sensors attached to street lights that serve to give priority to approaching emergency vehicles at intersections. And while I have an opinion about the following video I’m about to share with […]
KPMG U.K. Is Giving Up Non-Audit Work on FTSE 350 Clients. Will the Other Big 4 Firms Follow?
So, Sky News broke some pretty big news in the United Kingdom earlier this morning regarding the House of Klynveld: KPMG is to cease undertaking non-audit work for the FTSE-350 companies whose accounts it supervises, becoming the first of the ‘big four’ firms to make such a pledge in the aftermath of scandals surrounding the […]
Ex-KPMG Partner Pleads Guilty to Using Stolen PCAOB Inspection Information
The former national partner-in-charge of inspections at KPMG pled guilty on Oct. 29 for his involvement in a scheme in which the Big 4 firm repeatedly used stolen confidential Public Company Accounting Oversight Board information to cheat the regulatory inspection process. Thomas Whittle, 55, pled guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy charges, pursuant to a […]
(UPDATE) Married Ex-KPMG Recruiter and Gym Coach Busted For Banging Young Gymnast in a Car
Whew, you guys, this one is … awkward. Scott Vetere is a 39-year-old father of three from Michigan who serves as assistant coach for the University of Michigan women’s gymnastics team, or at least he did until he resigned Oct. 15. His resignation came after Vetere was caught getting it on with an 18-year-old female […]
Ex-KPMG Executive Director Admits Guilt in PCAOB Inspection Leak Scandal
A former Public Company Accounting Oversight Board inspector-turned-KPMG executive director, who was accused of obtaining confidential information on which KPMG clients’ audits the PCAOB would be reviewing so the Big 4 firm could improve its dismal inspection results, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court on Oct. 16 for her involvement in the scandal. Cynthia Holder, […]
Here’s Your Open Thread for KPMG Compensation Discussions (2018)
So we might be a little late on this one, but who cares? Obviously you guys don’t, you’ve all but given up on these open threads come comp time. As such, this may be our last open thread of comp season, not just for this year but for good. It sucks we have to go […]
KPMG Adds Retired Four-Star Air Force General to Its One-Star Board of Directors
No, it wasn’t Pope Francis, Malala Yousafzai, or the ghost of Nelson Mandela, as Caleb suggested last April, but KPMG U.S. on Oct. 4 appointed retired Air Force General Janet Wolfenbarger as the firm’s first independent director to its board, nearly nine months after five former KPMG executives were indicted for their roles in an […]
Where, Oh Where, Is KPMG’s 2016 Inspection Report?
KPMG’s 2016 inspection report has still not been published by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and the PCAOB won’t say why—or if the report will ever see the light of day. Compliance Week reports: The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board published its 2016 inspection results for Deloitte in December 2017 followed by reports for EY […]
Federal Judge Strikes Down Ex-KPMG Partners’ Request for SEC Evidence Search
If you’re dying to know what’s going on with David Britt, David Middendorf, and Thomas Whittle, the former KPMG partners who are accused of participating in a scandal in which confidential Public Company Accounting Oversight Board inspection information was leaked to the accounting firm, Law360 has an update: A group of former and would-be KPMG auditors […]
Big 4 (Except KPMG) Cracks Top 10 in Vault’s Ranking of Best Consulting Firms
Vault today released its 2019 ranking of the top 50 consulting firms to work for in North America, and the top 10 spots are dotted with the Big 4. Well, most of the Big 4. For the fourth year in a row, Deloitte Consulting LLP was ranked No. 4 on Vault’s list. According to employee […]
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before: FRC Reprimands KPMG U.K. for Crappy Audit
When it comes to the Financial Reporting Council and KPMG audits, it must be like shooting fish in a barrel. This time, the U.K. accounting watchdog fined KPMG £2.1 million ($2.7 million) on Aug. 20 following the Big 4 firm’s admission of misconduct on the audit of fashion company Ted Baker Plc’s financial statements in […]
Another Former KPMG Employee Gets Into Trouble for Insider Trading
You can add Daniel Senn to the list of current and not-so-current KPMG employees and representatives, such as Scott London, Andrei Postrado, Thomas Avent, and Phil Mickelson (but not his KPMG hat), who have either been accused of, or found guilty of, insider trading. Senn, a Klynveldian auditor from 2007 to 2013, was convicted of […]
25,000 Students Voted For the Top Internship and the Results Will SHOCK You
Alright so twice now I’ve been called out for writing clickbait headlines now that the comment section is reopened, but whatever, what do you guys think I did in the years between getting laid off from this website last time and coming back? I WROTE CLICKBAIT. I’m not joking. One time I paid my rent […]
Judge Allows Class-Action Suit to Proceed Against KPMG Over Shoddy Miller Energy Audit
A federal judge in Tennessee on Aug. 2 declined to throw out a securities class-action lawsuit against KPMG, in which investors are accusing the Big 4 firm of screwing up the audit of now-defunct oil and gas company Miller Energy Resources Inc. In Lewis Cosby et al. v. KPMG L.L.P., the investors say they got […]
Do KPMG’s Summer Employee Perks Put All Other Summer Employee Perks to Shame?
This Accounting Today article on the perks KPMG is offering to its 30,000 U.S. employees this summer got me thinking about the summer employee perks, or lack thereof, I’ve received during my career. And I’m not just focusing on my last 19 years as a writer and/or editor. I’m going all the way back to […]
Setback in Court For Ex-KPMG Execs, As Judge Refuses to Toss Out Counts in PCAOB Inspection Info Leak Case
As Mick Jagger sings, “You can’t always get what you want.” What three former top KPMG executives and two former employees of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board—who are accused of participating in a scheme in which confidential PCAOB inspection information was shared with the accounting firm—wanted was for their conspiracy and wire fraud counts […]
KPMG U.K. Chairman Taking Heat for Defending Carillion Audit
An article published today by The Times in which KPMG U.K. Chairman Bill Michael defended the firm’s audit of Carillion is getting some reaction on Twitter—good for the newspaper, bad for Michael and KPMG. The article states: The chairman of KPMG has hit back at MPs in charge of the inquiry into the collapse of […]
Does the ‘P’ in KPMG Stand For ‘Probes?’
Because we have two new probes into KPMG to tell you about. First, two weeks after the quality of its audit work was called “unacceptable” by the Financial Reporting Council, KPMG is being probed by the United Kingdom’s accounting watchdog over its audit of British beverage wholesaler Conviviality’s financial statements, according to the Financial Times. […]
KPMG Used Confidential Inspection Info to Snatch BBVA Away From Rivals, Report Says
If you missed this late last week, Francine McKenna of MarketWatch detailed how KPMG used access to confidential Public Company Accounting Oversight Board inspection information to poach a client from its Big 4 rivals. The client, Spanish bank BBVA, was one of nearly a dozen KPMG clients caught up in the audit inspection scandal. Others […]
Report: Court Documents Name KPMG Audit Clients Caught Up in PCAOB Leak Fiasco
MarketWatch reporter and friend of Going Concern’s, Francine McKenna, wrote an outstanding article today after digging through court documents obtained by MarketWatch that name the audit clients caught up in the KPMG audit inspection conspiracy. And there are some pretty big names. The Justice Department in January brought criminal charges against five former KPMG executives […]
U.K. Accounting Regulator Chides KPMG For ‘Unacceptable’ Decline in Audit Quality
And here I thought Phil Mickelson’s meltdown on the 13th green at the U.S. Open on June 16 would be the worst thing to happen to KPMG this week. From Bloomberg: KPMG’s audit work in the U.K. is of an unacceptable standard, Britain’s accounting regulator said, fueling calls to reform the industry, including dismantling the […]
Recently Axed KPMG South Africa Employee Slams Firm for Mismanagement, Lying
You may have seen earlier this week that KPMG South Africa is planning to lay off 400 workers and close some regional offices, as the embattled firm tries to save face following the Gupta and VBS Mutual Bank scandals. If you haven’t been paying attention, here’s a nice synopsis of what’s going on, via Reuters: […]
Reminder: If You Improperly Alter Audit Workpapers and Are Found Out, You Will Be Fired
Louder this time, for the people in the back.
Clearly Not Everyone at KPMG Got the Memo About the ‘Raise-Your-Hand Culture’ at the Firm
Photo: A higher proportion of hand raising than at KPMG.
Wells Fargo Not Sick of Bad Press Yet
Oh, Wells. Buddy. What’s going on? Can’t seem to keep your nose clean. Last week heralded another splashy headline in the WSJ: Wells Fargo Employees Altered Information on Business Customers’ Documents Even we’re getting sick of it! This time, WSJ reported that employees in the wholesale subunit cut corners with data collection — including personal […]
A Massive Scandal, the Likes of Which the Accounting Profession Had Never Seen, Got KPMG to Consider Outside Directors
In an effusive, buzzy word salad published in Accounting Today, KPMG Chairman and CEO Lynne Doughtie announced that the firm would be adding independent directors to its board. Why, might you ask? I’ll let Lynne tell you unabated: In today’s complex and fast-moving global business environment, successful organizations regularly reassess their mission and responsibilities to […]
KPMG South Africa Calls in Reinforcements, Is Dumpster Fire
Uh oh: KPMG LLP’s South African unit is flying in trouble shooters from around the globe and hurriedly meeting clients to stem any further loss of business after becoming embroiled in three evolving scandals. Let me jump in here to say that I think I’d make a fine accounting firm troubleshooter. A Big 4 Mr. […]
KPMG Master’s Degree Program Admits 135 into Indentured Service in 2018
As a Big 4 alumna, when I saw the KPMG master’s degree program, I immediately thought, “What’s the catch?” But before we get to the catch, let’s look at the program itself a little more. The KPMG Master’s Degree Program Per Accounting Today, the cohort of 135 program participants for the 2018-2019 start class will […]