KPMG Australia has lost its chief executive and audit chief after the board conceded it had “fallen short” in how it handled a whistleblower scandal.
Consulting firm KPMG has been rocked by two senior resignations in the wake of a scandal over how it handed a whistleblower’s complaints.
KPMG Australia chief executive Andrew Yates will leave effective immediately, while national managing partner audit and assurances Julian McPherson will stand down from his role effective immediately and resign after an orderly transition of his client responsibilities.
“I have been committed to a speak-up culture in our firm. It is clear that in this case we have let ourselves down and I take accountability,” Mr Yates said in a statement issued through KPMG.
The scandal pertains to how KPMG treated allegations raised by a whistleblower about client data misuse. The allegations were dismissed at first after an internal investigation and the findings backed by external legal review, the firm said.
It was later felt this inquiry was “not conducted with the necessary rigour”.
The dismissal of the allegations led to the whistleblower raising the matter with members of the KPMG Australia board, with law firm Allens “continuing to challenge the conclusions reached in prior investigations”.
The whistleblower alleged KMPG partners misused board papers from long-time client Lendlease to win external audits.
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