Andrew Yates has admitted the whistleblower who raised allegations about confidential information being used to win lucrative contracts was made to feel uncomfortable.

Former KPMG chief executive Andrew Yates has admitted the whistleblower who raised allegations about confidential information from corporate clients being used to win lucrative contracts was made to feel uncomfortable.

This was despite him claiming to have previously promoted a “speak up” culture within the big four auditing and financial services firm, only for it to be accused of using confidential information from construction company Lendlease to secure work with the Westpac bank and asset management group Dexus.

“I talked to the firm extensively about that. I was very proud of many things that happened in that respect but in this case, we didn’t get it right,” Mr Yates told a Parliamentary inquiry on Friday.

“I don’t think we made the whistleblower feel comfortable through the process in terms of that whole concept of speaking up.

“As I think about the individual themselves, I feel that we could have made the process easier and I also feel, probably, we could have made it a more humanistic approach.”

This revelation was made minutes after Labor senator Deborah O’Neill, as chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, warned KPMG witnesses that revealing the identity of the whistleblower in their evidence would constitute a contempt of Parliament.

“The whistleblower’s...

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