The Big Four firm’s legal team had contributed to its handling of the whistleblower’s concerns
KPMG general counsel Louise Capon has left the Big Four firm after finalising the negotiation of her departure with the KPMG board, reported the Australian Financial Review.
She exits KPMG’s national executive committee with immediate effect but will stay on as general counsel until a replacement is recruited. Her deputy, James McClelland, is also being pushed to resign.
Capon had faced calls to resign since mid-June. She had led the legal team that contributed significantly to KPMG’s handling of concerns raised by a former audit director in 2024 regarding the firm’s supposed misuse of confidential client data.
McClelland had conducted the initial investigation into the claims. The whistleblower was reportedly denied legal protections; moreover, KPMG did not conduct a proper investigation for two years. The director escalated the issue to KPMG International, independent directors, Chartered Accountants ANZ and ASIC before taking the matter to Labour senator Deborah O’Neill. Then-KPMG chairman Martin Sheppard told directors to reach out to Capon.
On Monday August 10, a parliamentary committee investigating the matter released a report indicating that KPMG had shielded information from law firms Ashurst and Allens, who were engaged to conduct external investigations into the matter last year.
Both firms had determined that no wrongdoing took place; however, per an Ashurst report...
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