The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has opened a formal investigation into three KPMG Australia partners following whistleblower claims that confidential client documents were misused to secure audit mandates.
According to a Reuters report, the inquiry comes as some major corporate and government entities are reassessing their dealings with the ‘Big Four’ firm.
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ASIC chair Sarah Court told the senate committee that the ASIC is currently focused on three registered company auditors, while signalling the investigation could broaden.
Court was quoted by the news agency as saying: “There are three registered company auditors that are currently within the scope of what we were looking at, but I have to say this is an ever-moving feast at the moment as more information comes our way. So I don’t know that will be the end of it.”
The matter stemmed from allegations raised in March by Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill, who used parliamentary privilege to air concerns from a whistleblower about practices inside KPMG.
The whistleblower alleged that confidential board papers belonging to property group Lendlease were used to support bids for substantial audit tenders with Westpac and real estate company Dexus.
KPMG initially ran its own internal review of the claims and reported it could not verify any misconduct.
The company has since appointed law firm Allens to conduct an external investigation into the issues raised.
Court told the Senate that KPMG partners Paul Rogers and Eileen Hoggett are two of the three auditors being examined by the ASIC.
However, the identity of the third partner has not been disclosed.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia is reportedly preparing to end KPMG Australia’s role in running its whistleblower hotline amid the misconduct allegations against the company.
