Deloitte Netherlands chief executive and
executive board member Piet Hein Meeter has resigned after a breach
was found in the firm’s independence rules on the financial
interests of audit clients.
Meeter’s role has been taken over on an
interim basis by former deputy Peter Bommel.
Deloitte said Meeter was not personally
involved in the rule-breach but resigned in the firm’s
interest.
Auditors have strict independence rules that
safeguard them from any potential conflicts of interests with
clients. It is very rare that a firm leader, such as Meeter, would
be connected to an independence breach.
A Deloitte internal compliance review first
highlighted the breach, which was then investigated internally and
by an external law firm.
Deloitte said it immediately reported the
breach to Dutch regulatory body AFM.
