KPMG Australia’s chairman, Martin Sheppard, and two senior partners, Paul Rogers and Eileen Hoggett, have resigned amid a growing scandal over whistleblower allegations that staff misused confidential client information to win audit work.
Audit Scandal Widens
The departures mark the latest fallout from the controversy that has engulfed the firm and has already claimed its CEO and audit chief. KPMG has admitted it has mishandled the complaint and has launched a fourth investigation after the previous ones failed to substantiate any wrongdoing.
Rogers and Hoggett were directly named by the whistleblower as the lead partners on the Lendlease auditing team involved in the misconduct. Both are under investigation by Australia’s corporate regulator.
KPMG said Sheppard would leave the firm after a short transition period and retire from his regional board responsibilities. He would be replaced with an independent chair, and independent members would be added to the Australian board as part of measures announced to “overhaul governance and rebuild trust”.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
