KPMG global reportedly intervenes as more executives face pressure to step down
KPMG's global leadership has moved to prevent further partner departures from its Australian business, according to reports, in an intervention that is raising questions about how much control the international body actually wields over its member firms.
The move, reported by The Australian Financial Review, comes as KPMG Australia faces a whistleblower scandal that has already forced out chief executive Andrew Yates and head of audit Julian McPherson.
With financial year-end audits approaching, KPMG International is understood to be concerned that a wave of further exits could leave the firm unable to meet its obligations to major clients.
Dozens of partners, particularly those based in Canberra, where government contracts are under review, are actively seeking alternative work, according to the AFR report.
Other senior leaders are also reportedly under pressure to depart, including deputy chair Carmel Mortell, general counsel Louise Capon, and head of human resources Dorothy Hisgrove.
Inconsistent role of KPMG International
The reported intervention comes despite the KPMG International's repeated insistence that it lacks the authority to direct member firms.
According to the AFR, the global body maintained its role was one of oversight rather than control throughout the whistleblower dispute.
But in 2018, the report noted that KPMG International "parachuted" executives into its South African member firm and cut hundreds of jobs in response to a governance scandal.
The global body's intervention also risks drawing its own leadership into the parliamentary inquiry.
KPMG International figures, including Sydney-based global general counsel Anne Collins and incoming chairman Gary Wingrove, a former head of the Australian firm, could be called to give evidence.
A spokesman for KPMG International told the AFR that the body would "continue to support the Australian firm as it rebuilds trust with its people and among its clients and communities."
"We encourage all colleagues to speak up if they see or hear anything they consider to be inappropriate," the spokesperson added, as quoted by the news outlet.
The whistleblower at the centre of the scandal, a former audit director who first raised concerns in May 2024, escalated the matter to KPMG International, independent directors, professional regulators, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission before the allegations were made public by Labor senator Deborah O'Neill in March.
KPMG Australia apologised to the whistleblower in late May and announced a fourth investigation into the matter.
