HBOS, KPMG and Their Problematic Whistleblower
By Francine • Feb 19th, 2009 • Category: Pure Content, Writing for OthersI am guest posting today over at the FT Alphaville site. Here’s the lead in…Take a look.
KPMG, external auditors for HBOS, are front and centre in the controversy over written testimony from Paul Moore, HBOS’ former head of regulatory risk and a former KPMG partner.Mr. Moore told the Treasury Committee of Parliament that Sir James Crosby, HBOS former chief executive, fired him after he warned the HBOS board in 2004 about its potentially dangerous “sales culture”. Sir James resigned from the UK’s Financial Services Authority last week over the allegations…Global multinationals are recklessly disregarding warnings of internal auditors and risk managers more frequently. They also often ask their own external auditors to investigate serious allegations against management. Internal auditors and risk managers were ignored to the detriment of shareholders in two recent high-profile cases: AIG and Société Générale. KPMG has been an “independent investigator ” for its own audit client in the recent past, in the Siemens case.
None of these stories ended well…
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Francine McKenna (@retheauditors) has more than twenty years of experience in consulting and professional services including tenure at two Big 4 firms, both in the US and abroad. For more info, click the "About" page link at the bottom of this page.