KPMG fiasco shows ethical guardrails are seen as mere obstacles

Two high-profile officials from accounting giant KPMG announced their departure last Friday. Why? Mishandling of whistleblower allegations regarding improper internal sharing of client documents related to high-profile audits.

Initially, KPMG’s internal investigation and later an investigation by an external law firm failed to substantiate the whistleblower’s allegations. However, after the whistleblower complained to several board members, another external firm, Allens, was brought in. The ongoing investigation disproved the initial findings and uncovered an additional incident in which customer documents were improperly shared internally.