The corporate regulator has launched a sweeping review of whistleblower complaints in all four of the major global consulting firms, as the fallout from KPMG’s auditing scandal widens.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission told an inquiry on Friday it had commenced surveillance of audit complaints dating to July 2023 and that the review had uncovered 551 complaints about the big four audit firms.
The review is focused on industry giants KPMG, Deloitte, EY and PwC. ASIC said it expected to provide an update on the probe before the end of the year.
“Just to be clear about what we’ve asked for, this includes whether the firms have received complaints relating to misconduct by registered company auditors, such as the misuse or sharing of confidential information,” ASIC chair Sarah Court told the public hearing into the KPMG whistleblower scandal.
“I don’t want to suggest that there are 550 serious whistleblower issues. We don’t know, and there’s a lot of work for us clearly to be looking through those complaints,” she said.
Greens senator Barbara Pocock said the figure of more than 500 internal complaints was “a very large number, and it is shocking to me.”
“They may all be completely resolved, (but) I doubt it,” she said.
Earlier, ASIC told Friday’s hearing it was investigating documents that KPMG had lodged with the regulator last year to determine if it contained any false or misleading statements.
“Initial inquiries are focused on the basis for statements...
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