KPMG Australia boss resigns amid whistleblower scandal Big Four The boss of KPMG Australia has resigned after the firm admitted to severely mishandling a whistleblower report on client confidentiality breaches. The scandal was prompted by a whistleblower who alleged that client documents were inappropriately shared with the senior leadership team, including the chief executive, which prompted an internal investigation. But the investigation did not [...]
Ex-KPMG led accounting giant stalls £1bn sale Accountancy One of the UK’s largest accounting firms founded by a former KPMG head has put a £1bn auction on hold despite receiving a wealth of interest from investors. Sumer, a ‘consolidator’ firm that buys majority stakes in smaller independent accounting companies, had hired advisors at boutique advisory Continuum last September to oversee a review on [...]
Job cuts at Big Four firms fuel worker burnout Prof Services Job cuts at professional services firms are resulting in overworked staff, but the pressures – combined with increased reliance on AI – risk damaging firms’ reputations through mistakes, writes Maria Ward-Brennan. The professional services industry, especially the Big Four giants, has faced its fair share of job cuts, with thousands of roles laid off in [...]
London to be hit hardest as jobs market struggles through 2026 May 11, 2026 The jobs market is set to worsen throughout the year, with UK employment forecast to suffer a net loss of 163,000 jobs. That’s according to research from the ITEM Club, which has found that London is set to bear the largest absolute decline, shedding an estimated 25,000 positions as its retail and hospitality sectors slow. [...]
KPMG faces staff uproar as job cuts expose communication breakdown May 6, 2026 Big Four audit firm KPMG is facing something of an internal comms meltdown, City AM understands, amid complaints of a lack of communication during a ‘mismanaged’ redundancy round. In late March, it was reported that KPMG UK was set to axe more than 500 staff in the latest redundancy round at the Big Four giant. [...]
‘Alarming’ lack of private credit understanding in finance bosses May 5, 2026 The elusive nature of the private credit industry has been called further into question with fresh data revealing less than one in five financial services leaders fully understand their exposure to the sector. A fresh report from Big Four firm KPMG has found just 14 per cent of financial services executives believe they are fully [...]
General counsel ‘evolving from traditional legal gatekeepers’, says KPMG’s legal arm April 29, 2026 General counsel responsibilities are evolving beyond just providing legal oversight as regulations “become more complex and demanding”, according to a new report from the Big four giant KPMG’s Law arm. A whopping 75 per cent of the general counsels surveyed by the firm reported to be “frequently providing advice on issues outside of their legal [...]
Golden partnership perks? Not anymore, say the Big Four April 27, 2026 As the Big Four giants grapple with profitability challenges, the traditional partnership model is undergoing significant change to prevent the profit pool from being diluted. The traditional dream at professional services firms – joining, working hard and climbing the ladder to partnership within an LLP structure – now looks very different at the Big Four [...]
Big Four carnage as KPMG swings the jobs axe on both sides of the Pond April 24, 2026 On the back of KPMG taking the shears to its partners’ headcount in the UK, around 140 audit partners across the Atlantic are now set to lose their jobs. The Big Four firm is set to cut about 10 per cent of its 1,400 US audit partners to reduce its bloated headcount. The move comes [...]
Big Four giant KPMG downgrades equity partners April 24, 2026 Big Four giant KPMG has begun demoting UK senior equity partners – members who hold a stake in the firm and share its profits – and instead offering them lower status salaried partner roles. KPMG, which last year paid its equity partners on average £800,000 each a year, has reportedly been inviting the partners for [...]