[SYDNEY] Accounting firm KPMG Australia said on Friday (May 29) that its CEO and head of audit had resigned because of shortcomings in the handling of a whistleblower’s complaints about sharing client data, in a fresh scandal for the country’s professional services sector.
CEO Andrew Yates, who joined the firm in 1990 and became CEO in 2021, resigned after its investigation into the whistleblower’s allegations “fell short of the firm’s expectations, those of the whistleblower and the broader community”, the firm said in a statement.
The firm’s managing partner of audit and assurance, Julian McPherson, also stepped down and would leave the firm after an orderly transition, the statement added.
“It is clear that in this case we have let ourselves down and I take accountability,” Yates said in the same statement.
McPherson added: “Matters have arisen for which I am responsible, and I take accountability.”
KPMG said that a whistleblower had made three complaints about client documents being shared inappropriately, and its previous investigations had found the complaints unsubstantiated. However, the firm “now recognises these processes fell short”.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) had started a preliminary investigation into the conduct of three KPMG registered company auditors, regulator commissioner Kate O’Rourke told a parliamentary hearing on Friday, without naming the auditors.
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