Brought to account..
Fined KPMG face new probe
SCANDAL-hit KPMG face a fresh probe into the collapse of yet another big firm they were paid to keep an eye on.
Industry watchdogs the Financial Reporting Council announced they were investigating the accountancy giants’ dealings with drinks firm Conviviality, who went into administration in April.
Bargain Booze owners Conviviality were brought down by a £30million tax bill that had seemingly been missed.
The probe will focus on KPMG’s audit of Conviviality’s accounts for the year to the end of April last year.
It is the latest investigation to hit KPMG, who last month were slapped with a £4.5million fine by the FRC over their audit of insurance firm Quindell.
They have also been slated over the collapse of construction and outsourcing giants Carillion, whose accounts they checked for 19 years.
Carillion went under with £900million of debts and left industry body the Pension Protection Fund with a record bill of at least £800million to rescue their retirement scheme.
KPMG said they had not begun checking Conviviality’s accounts for the 12 months to April this year, when the £30million tax demand emerged, at the time of their collapse.
They added: “We believe we conducted our audit appropriately and will co-operate fully with the investigation.”
The probe comes amid calls for Britain’s Big Four accountancy firms – KPMG, plus PwC, Deloitte and EY – to be broken up. A Parliamentary report last month accused the firms of “prioritising their own profits ahead of good governance”.
It was revealed in May how the big accountancy firms had bagged more than £1billion worth of government contracts at the start of 2015.
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