The chief executive of KPMG Australia has resigned after an investigation into the accounting giant's handling of a whistleblower's allegations.
KPMG chair Martin Sheppard has accepted the resignation of chief executive Andrew Yates effective immediately, the firm announced in a release today.
KPMG's national managing partner audit and assurange Julian McPherson will also stand down from his role effective immediately and will resign after transitioning his client responsibilities.
The shake-up comes after legal firm Allens was appointed by the company to investigate its prior internal and external investigations, and found that they had fallen short of the rigour required to investigate a whistleblower's claim that client documents were being inappropriately shared internally.
"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," Yates said.
Stan Stavros has been appointed interim chief executive.
KPMG is one of the "big four" global accounting firms, alongside Ernst&Young, Deloitte, and PwC.
"We apologise unreservedly to the whistleblower. We commit to learning from this process to ensure we create an environment where it is safe and easy to surface concerns that will be acted upon," Sheppard said.
"KPMG apologises to the clients whose information was not handled with the care and respect they expect from us. We also apologise to our people – as these matters do not reflect on...
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