KPMG’s global bosses repeatedly refused to investigate concerns raised by a whistleblower in its Australian business, a decision that threatens to widen a crisis that has prompted the resignation of two of its most senior executives in the country.
An employee raised concerns with the firm’s global bosses last year but KPMG International argued that it could not force the Australian firm to take action and that there was not enough evidence for it to launch a probe of its own, according to people familiar with the months-long correspondence.
The whistleblower had made several allegations, including that some KPMG partners accessed and shared confidential audit information to help the firm win contracts from other companies.
KPMG Australia’s chief executive and audit leader stood down last week after the business admitted that country-level investigations into the whistleblower’s allegations had fallen short of its standards. Its chief operating officer has also lost her executive role.
Initial investigations by KPMG Australia and its external lawyers concluded that the claims were unsubstantiated.
KPMG International’s decision last year not to investigate the claims, when they were raised with it directly, threatens to widen the crisis at the Big Four firm. It may also put global bosses in the crosshairs of lawmakers in the Australian parliament, who have heavily criticised its handling of the matter.
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