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KPMG Australia chiefs face parliamentary scrutiny over alleged client leaks
Hearings in Canberra included claims that leaked Lendlease board materials were used to help colleagues connected to the Westpac audit tender, where $19,000 was docked from one partner’s bonus.
KPMG Australia faced scrutiny at a parliamentary inquiry in Canberra into alleged leaks of confidential client information, as more whistleblowers came forward. KPMG’s chairman Michael Ebeid and deputy chair Carmel Mortell told the hearing that certain partners said they did not recall leaked papers, while lawyers accused staff of being misleading as the investigation broadened.
The inquiry also focused on how leaked materials might have influenced competitive work for major clients. A whistleblower alleged that KPMG partners leaked board papers from Lendlease to benefit colleagues pursuing, and eventually winning, Westpac’s lucrative audit contract, according to the Guardian Business.
KPMG’s lead partner on the Westpac audit, Kim Lawry, admitted she shared a photograph of a Lendlease board document from her phone to colleagues, and said the document was not useful or relevant to the Westpac audit tender. Lawry said she did not remember taking the photo, did not recall knowing it was confidential, and did not know why it would be worth recording, and she said $19,000 was docked from her bonus.
Another KPMG executive, Eileen Hoggett, previously the firm’s chief operating officer, admitted confidential Lendlease documents were printed and kept in her locker. She denied recalling printing them herself or letting others see them, but the hearing included a 2023 email suggesting showing a colleague the printed version in her locker without letting too many people know, and KPMG expelled Hoggett after the email was uncovered in July, the report said.