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KPMG Insights

June 2016  

  

KPMG appointed Darren Burton as Vice Chair, Human Resources. Burton succeeds Bruce Pfau, who is retiring from the Vice Chair role after 12 years. Pfau will join the firm’s Advisory practice in a senior consulting role. Burton joins KPMG from Raytheon Company, where he most recently served as Vice President, Human Resources and Security for Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services Company. Prior to Raytheon, Burton held senior HR positions at Williams Lea, IBM, the Campbell Soup and DuPont. 

  

  

The union representing more than 4,500 government financial officers has lodged two formal complaints of professional misconduct against KPMG over its work in setting up offshore tax structures on the Isle of Man. The Association of Canadian Financial Officers wants the Ontario and Quebec chapters of the self-regulating Chartered Professional Accountants, or CPA, to assess KPMG's behaviour against the profession's code of conduct, bylaws and regulations.  

  

  

  

May 2016 

  

  

KPMG announced the appointment of Chris Monteiro as the firm's chief communications officer. In this role, Monteiro will be responsible for developing a proactive, strategic communications agenda that supports the overall objectives of the firm and its leadership. Monteiro and his team will manage all aspects of the communications function, including: media relations, issues/crisis management, leadership communications, corporate reputation, internal communications, and digital/social communications. Monteiro most recently served as chief communications and digital marketing officer at MasterCard, where he led globally integrated communications programmes designed to help drive the company's business performance and reputation. 

  

  

KPMG was told that it needs to improve the quality of its audits, following a review by the UK Financial Reporting Council. The watchdog found problems in two of the 22 KPMG audits it reviewed, making it the only one of the six big firms found to have significant problems. 

  

  

  

April 2016 

  

  

Cybersecurity company Norse Corp. named Howard A. Bain III the company’s new CEO, president and interim CFO. Norse provides threat intelligence to corporate customers from its global network of eight million sensors and crawlers that analyse Internet traffic to identify compromised hosts, malicious botnets and other sources of digital attack. However, the last few weeks have been what Bain described to CIO Journal as a “perfect storm” which included a sales miss, scuttled investment, large-scale layoffs, a management change and a so-called DNS attack by hackers that knocked its website and attack map offline and brought down its internal email system for about a week. The company is still repairing the damage: there are now about 40 employees at the company, while at its height last year, there were 92 employees. Norse appeared to be on the right track for much of 2015, Mr. Bain said. “The company was chugging along fairly nicely, we thought, to the extent that KPMG Capital made a significant investment in the company at the end of August after extensive due diligence,” he said. However, the company’s sales and funding could not keep up with its expenses, according to Mr. Bain. In September, KPMG Capital said it invested $11.4 million in Series A funding in Norse. KPMG Capital declined to comment. 

  

  

KPMG Singapore launched an initiative which will allow its corporate customers to tap the creative skills of startups in order to get access to innovative solutions. Called the KPMG Digital Village, it will be what a company spokesman calls a symbiotic ecosystem matching, "fostering and forging innovation ventures between companies and startups". KPMG Singapore's head of Digital + Innovation, said the company is using a "challenge-focused approach" in the Digital Village. It helps to bring innovative ideas to life from scouting and mentoring through to helping startups develop solutions for business integration. The Digital Village will provide solutions to corporate clients out of KPMG's innovation network, venture capitalists (VCs) and research institutions, and will include links with institutes of higher learning and available government resources to complete the ecosystem. 

  

  

KPMG's South African arm severed its ties with a company owned by the Guptas, a family of Indian-born businessmen, due to a scandal over their relationship with President Jacob Zuma, according to an internal circular. In the email sent to KPMG staff and seen by Reuters, local Chief Executive Trevor Hoole said he had decided to stop auditing Oakbay Resources and Energy, a Gupta mining holding company, after consulting regulators, clients and KPMG's internal risk departments 

  

  

  

  

March 2016 

  

  

Computer Weekly reported on KPMG taking more IT jobs offshore to India, explaining that KPMG is moving more of its UK IT team to India as it expands its agreement with Indian IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services. The company currently only has plans to cut contract staff in the UK. The latest move sees the firm increase its India-based IT team to 150 from 125. It will be almost the same size as the UK IT department, which has 155 staff. The remaining technical jobs are in the process of knowledge transfer, with Indian staff currently being trained in the UK. 

  

  

Lazard is hiring David Burlison from KPMG as a managing director to lead its London restructuring team, beefing up its European capabilities. Burlison will work with existing managing director Richard Stables who will retain responsibility for wider European restructuring mandates.Burlison, who founded KPMG's debt advisory and restructuring practice in the United Arab Emirates, acted for the lenders to Dubai World when it restructured its debts in 2010. He then moved in 2012 to work for a private equity firm owned by a member of the ruling family in UAE before rejoining KPMG in 2014 as head of global restructuring. Burlison will join Lazard later this year after completing assignments at KPMG. 

  

  

The Canadian federal government should call public hearings into why the Canada Revenue Agency offered amnesty to the high net worth clients of KPMG who were involved in an offshore tax avoidance scheme, prominent tax groups, politicians and other legal experts said in the wake of a CBC News/Radio-Canada exposé. In fact, Laval University tax professor Andre Lareau says the new revenue minister, Diane Lebouthillier, should undo the deal as soon as possible. 

  

  

In the US, KPMG signed an agreement with IBM to apply IBM’s Watson cognitive computing technology to its audit offerings. IBM said, “Auditing and similar knowledge services are increasingly challenged with tackling immense volumes of unstructured data. Cognitive technologies such as Watson can transform how this data is understood and how critical decisions are made. By applying Watson, KPMG is taking a forward-looking approach to extending its expertise, helping professionals and clients gain new insights from critical enterprise information.” 

  

  

A trio of senior partners at KPMG have quit after the firm snubbed a surprise takeover offer from rival professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) for part of its advisory business. Sky News reported that Richard Fleming, the UK head of advisory; Mark Firmin, the UK head of restructuring; and Roger Bayly, who leads KPMG's corporate turnaround business, had resigned to take up roles at A&M. Their departures come at a challenging time for KPMG, which is shedding dozens of partners in an attempt to improve its commercial performance. Offers to acquire parts of the 'big four' accountancy firms' advisory practices are rare despite fierce competition for business. 

  

  

  

February 2016 

  

  

KPMG UK selected Michelle Quest as its new UK head of tax, pensions and legal services with immediate effect. Quest has taken over from Karen Biggs, who is now heading up KPMG's enterprise practice across the UK and has also gained a seat on the executive committee of the board. The new head of tax joined the KPMG in 1997, and became a partner in 2003. In 2010 Quest was appointed as head of people at KPMG, and has also served as head of its UK private equity and EMA M&A tax practices. 

  

  

KPMG is axing 50 partners from its 617 member UK partnership in a move which is expected to overhaul the firm’s operating model, with future plans focusing on investment in technology and other strategies that will secure long-term benefits. In a statement, the firm said: "While we are accelerating the retirement of approximately 50 partners during the early part of this year we nevertheless continue to hire new partners and staff." KPMG said that it regularly reviews and reshapes its skills and expertise to ensure it has the right people to grow its business in the changing market place. In 2015, the firm hired just under 3,000 staff and are currently hiring around 1,000 new roles. 'We have hired three partners this year and have plans to hire more in the coming months and in addition we have our normal cycle of partner promotion,’ KPMG added. 

  

  

KPMG's highly conventional audit division has broken a 100 year tradition and hired 42 graduates in Australia without a business or accounting degree in an attempt to enhance soft-skills and diversity in the division. It is a massive expansion of a radical experiment trialled for the first time last year. It coincides with new corporate reporting rules that will thrust audit teams further into the public spotlight, and as boundaries between disciplines in professional services blur. "This is very different for us," KPMG head of audit Duncan McLennan said. Just over a third of KPMG's 389 audit graduate intake in 2016 do not have an accounting background. Ten per cent of them have no formal commerce, economics or business degree. Instead, they sport qualifications in a range of areas from environmental science and Mandarin, to counter terrorism and social work. 

  

  

Label Insight, a leading provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) data solutions providing powerful insights for and strengthening the connections between brands, retailers and consumers, announced the completion of a $10 million Series B round of funding. The round was led by a strategic investment from KPMG Capital, KPMG Capital, KPMG International's global investment fund. The investment allows KPMG member firms to offer retail food and beverage clients around the globe access to Label Insight's proprietary technology, which transforms product information into smart attributes, such as nutrients and allergens, providing users with a deep understanding of their product set. These attributes are easily customised to meet data views requested by retailers or required to participate in industry efforts, such as the SmartLabel™ transparency initiative. 

  

  

KPMG acquired fintech platform Markets IT in Australia for an undisclosed sum, in an effort to expand its big data capability and help banking clients grapple with a barrage of regulatory change. KPMG's Australian CEO referred to the merger as a “timely and strategic” acquisition. Markets IT is KPMG’s eleventh bolt-on acquisition in two years. Founded in 2011 Markets IT Founded in 2011 by ex-ABN AMRO investment bankers, the company billed itself as the dominant supplier of Murex software in Australia – a trading platform used by Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac and NAB, as well as second tier lenders, for foreign exchange, bonds, interest rate and commodities transactions. 

  

  

KPMG appointed Adrian Stone as its UK Head of Audit with immediate effect. Stone succeeds Tony Cates, who now leads KPMG’s International Markets and Government practice.  Stone joined KPMG’s Sheffield office in 1984 and has been an audit partner since 1997.  He has previously held a number of senior roles in KPMG’s audit practice including Head of Audit for the North of England and Scotland, Chief Operating Officer for the UK audit practice, Head of Internal Audit and Head of KPMG’s Department of Professional Practice. His industry experience reflects his roots in Sheffield and the city’s heavy industry base. However, it also encompasses significant retail and wholesale clients and manufacturers supplying these channels. 

  

  

  

January 2016 

  

  

In the US, KPMG withdrew nearly a decade of opinions approving financial statements from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The swaps regulator understated liabilities by $212 million in fiscal 2014 and $194 million in fiscal 2015, according to KPMG estimates. AUS commentator said, “Overlooking the problem for nearly 10 years takes a substantial bite out of KPMG's reputation. 

  

  

Flexera Software and KPMG Advisory Services are working together to provide clients with a combination of Software Asset Management (SAM) best practice process consulting services and leading edge SAM and license optimisation tools. This arrangement provides organisations with access to hundreds of KPMG subject matter experts with detailed knowledge of software licensing agreements, licence models, and software product use rights, as well as extensive experience implementing successful SAM programmes.  

  

  

KPMG tax partner Jane McCormick is to become the firm's next global head of tax. McCormick, currently head of tax for the EMA region and senior tax partner for the UK firm, will become the group's global head of tax, taking over from KPMG veteran Greg Wiebe, who has over 30 years of experience in the tax industry. McCormick has spent over 20 years at KPMG, formerly serving as chair of its global investment management and banking teams. A KPMG spokesperson said: "Jane is a leading figure in the debate on tax responsibility both in the UK and globally, and is well-known within the global tax community". 

   

  

In the UK, KPMG partnered with Funding Xchange, a platform where lenders compete for business from small firms seeking funds, to enhance its Small Business Accounting offering. Funding XChange (FXE), the first UK online marketplace that connects small businesses with lenders, has joined forces with global professional services firm KPMG to tackle the £4 billion funding gap - a bottleneck that is holding back the growth aspirations of UK small businesses. At a time when small business lending remains in the doldrums despite the economic recovery, the agreement between KPMG Small Business Accounting (KPMG SBA) and FXE changes the small business funding landscape; getting lenders to compete for customers, saving the SME time, money, as well as increasing the chances of them securing the right type of funding on the right terms 

  

  

KPMG said that its India subsidiary's incumbent chief executive Richard Rekhy had been unanimously elected for a second term. According to the firm, Rekhy was unanimously elected by KPMG India partners. His second term will last up to November 2020. KPMG said that its India subsidiary is the fastest growing member firm in it global network. Currently, KPMG in India employs more than 10,000 professionals, operating across 14 cities. 

  

  

  

  

December 2015 

  

  

KPMG and its regulator the UK Financial Reporting Council came under fire for their part in the failure of HBoS. Senior members of the Treasury select committee questioned the role of KMPG in auditing HBoS, as well as the FRC for not having investigated KPMG immediately after November’s joint report by the PRA and FCA on the collapse of HBoS back in 2008.  At a meeting of the TSC on 14 December, Mark Garnier MP for Wyre Forest, suggested the failure of the FRC to explain its decision not to investigate [KPMG] undermined its credibility as an industry regulator.  

  

  

KPMG UK revenues were up 2.6% to £1.96 billion, but profits dropped for the second consecutive year, partly as a result of spending on acquisitions, property and staff training and development. Overall profits for the financial year ended 30 September 2015, before tax and members’ profit shares, down 7% from £414 million to £383 million, as the firm continued to invest in what KPMG described as a three-year ‘grip, build and grow’ strategy to reposition the business in its markets. Average partner remuneration fell 13% from £715,000 to £623,000. There was also a pay cut for Simon Collins, UK chairman of KPMG, whose remuneration was £2.2 million, down from £2.5 million in 2014. KPMG said the fall in profits was a result of investment in the business and a 5% decline in the advisory business’ contribution, which was down from £324 million to £308 million. In contrast, audit saw a 9% increase in contribution to profits from £181 million to £197 million, and tax was up 17% from £129 million to £151 million. New audit wins in the year included Barclays, Experian and British American Tobacco, with KPMG saying it now audits more listed businesses than any other firm. 

  

  

Venture capitalists are placing big bets on digital payments and the Internet of Things, but are still scoping out plays for "gamification" and biometrics. The Consumer Goods and Media & Entertainment sectors are ripe for startups and investment activity and dominating media attention in these areas, according to the new KPMG Startup Trends Index. The index is a real-time analysis of news sources involving startups, incubators, venture capitalists and related technologies. It was launched as a joint effort of KPMG LLP in the U.S., KPMG in the Netherlands, and Owlin, a real-time news alert service. The index filters, analyses and provides insights culled from more than 1.8 million news and social media sources. It reveals the new technology and business models startups are bringing to market, as well as key areas major investors are focusing on, what disruptive technologies are drawing their interest, and the volume of buzz generated by various industry sectors.  

  

  

KPMG International announced aggregated network revenues of US$24.44 billion for the fiscal year ending 30 September 2015, representing an 8.1% increase in local currency terms (up from 6.3% in the previous year). In the Americas, revenues rose by 13.6%, driven by very strong growth in each of the three businesses: 15.2% growth in Advisory revenues (driven by double digit growth in Management Consulting, Risk Consulting and Deal Advisory), a 14.5% increase in Tax and an 11.8% increase in Audit revenues. KPMG in the US grew by 14.8% driven by strong demand for Audit, Tax and Advisory services. US Advisory revenues increased by 17.9%*, Audit by 14.1% and Tax by 12.6%. In Asia Pacific, KPMG revenues grew 8.2% (up from 3.8% in the previous year), with Australian revenues increasing by 10.6%, China by 8.5%, Japan by 6.8% and Singapore by 11.2%. ASEAN revenues grew by 12.1% driven by double digit growth in Audit, Tax and Advisory services. Europe, Middle East and Africa region (EMA, including India) revenues grew by 4.0%, down slightly from the 4.7% growth recorded in fiscal year 2014, reflecting the continued economic challenges faced by some countries in the region. Strongest growth within the region came from India at 18.3%, MESA (Middle East and South Asia) at 12.7% and Africa at 9.5%. Results in other key markets included Germany's revenues, which grew by 7.8%, and Spain's by 9.6%. 

  

  

In Northern Ireland, four senior KPMG executives were arrested in Belfast on alleged tax evasion charges. KPMG said it is cooperating with the HMRC investigation and that the four men have been placed on “administrative leave”. Jon D’Arcy, Eamonn Donaghy, Arthur O’Brien and Paul Hollway, are KPMG’s most senior staff in Northern Ireland and are also directors of a property investment company called JEAP Ltd. Press reports suggested that KPMG drafted in a number of senior managers from Dublin to ensure the smooth running of its Belfast office and that it hired a London based law firm to investigate the circumstances surrounding the four arrests. 

  

  

  

November 2015 

  

  

KPMG Australia acquired The Performance Clinic, a boutique firm focused on improving organisational workplace performance. KPMG's Performance Clinic claims to be able to assist clients to enhance productivity, well-being and employee engagement through the high performance of their people through a person-centred workplace performance approach that is data-led, fact-based and backed by research. The Performance Clinic's founder Andrew May joins KPMG as a Partner and joins with his 11 staff including exercise physiologists, nutritionists, organisational psychologists and others from diverse backgrounds spanning elite sport, the military and performing arts. 

  

  

Tensions between HBOS's senior management and the bank's auditor KPMG have been exposed in the long-awaited bumper report into the UK financial institution's epic failure.The 500-page tome, which took over three years and £7m to compile, reveals that the bank's management took an upbeat and optimistic view of the funds it had set aside to cover possible bad loans, a scenario flagged up on several occasions by KPMG. Around November 2008, KPMG undertook deeper audit work for the year-end financial statements, which led them to realise that HBOS's processes for assessing impairments and provisions could "no longer be relied on". KPMG was also "explicit in its view that the corporate impairment figures originally proposed for the 2008 year-end were "outside the acceptable range", which resulted in provisions being increased by £1.9bn. However, many of KPMG's previous warnings were unheeded by HBOS management. 

  

  

KPMG appointed Silicon Valley-based Partner Lincoln Clark as leader of the firm’s Global Semiconductor Industry practice. A member of KPMG’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications practice, Clark has provided audit and accounting services at the firm for nearly 30 years, most recently as lead partner for a number of multinational clients. Clark will be responsible for setting the strategic priorities and growth agenda for KPMG’s Semiconductor Industry practice. He will also oversee production of the firm’s annual global semiconductor industry survey and report. Clark will drive practice strategy and expansion, client services, and will continue to serve as lead partner on some client engagements. He replaces Packy Kelly who has been named Audit Partner in Charge of KPMG’s Bay Area Business Unit - details.   

  

  

New Zealand-based cloud accounting firm Xero signed partnerships with eCommerce platform BigCommerce and KPMG, deals it says will allow it to boost its reach and value proposition. The BigCommerce integration allows for a clean transfer of data between Xero and the eCommerce platform, Xero said, eliminating the need to navigate between the two tools. The software firm, which recently passed the 600,000 global subscriber mark, also announced a strategic alliance with KPMG Australia, and Xero had already formed a strategic partnership with KPMG in the UK in 2014 and its practices in New Zealand and Singapore member firms are Xero Platinum Partners. 

  

  

KPMG acquired from G2 FinTech (G2), a boutique tax technology firm that specialises in tax analysis and compliance software for the investment management community, all of its US tax software and intellectual property, including G2's flagship product, TaxGopher®. G2 will remain a separate entity with a continuing business post-closing. A majority of G2's development team will join KPMG's Tax Transformation and Technology Practice, enabling KPMG to enhance its capabilities to assist hedge funds with their tax compliance needs. KPMG is making a significant investment in tax technology with the continued development of KPMG LINK PartnerTrack, the firm's next-generation web-based platform for streamlining the partnership tax return and reporting process. The G2 acquisition reflects this commitment, by harnessing leading technology in order to meet the complex tax compliance needs of clients. 

  

  

In India, after long-drawn negotiations, merger talks between KPMG and boutique firm BMR Advisors fell through due to irreconcilable differences, according to sources aware of the development. One of the main reasons was the inability to resolve people-related issues. Some senior BMR partners were not happy with the roles that KPMG offered and the reporting structures that would have been followed. For example, a BMR founding partner would have had to report to a KPMG service line head who had previously been employed at BMR and had reported to him. 

  

  

  

October 2015 

  

  

In India, KPMG is hiring six partners and about 40 other consultants to expand its digital practice. The firm has already hired two partners from PwC while the remaining partners may join from Cisco and one of the other Big Four firms. (Rachna Nath, formerly of PwC, has joined KPMG as head of digital advisory along with her 22-member team.) "Digitisation is the first and foremost thing in the mind of CEOs these days. In India too, business-led, technology-driven transformation will be critical," said KPMG's global head of management consulting. The firm claims to have the biggest digital practice among the Big Four, with a team strength of 350 consultants. With the latest additions, the total number of partners and directors in the team will rise to 20. 

  

  

KPMG Capital announced that it had taken an equity stake in Norse Corp., a leader in live attack intelligence solutions which help companies pre-emptively block cyber-attacks, track emerging threats and detect compromises. Norse is the latest investment in KPMG Capital’s first global fund focused on accelerating innovation in data and analytics. KPMG Capital was the lead investor in California-based Norse’s latest Series A1 round of funding. The $11.4 million total raised in the round will be used by Norse to bolster the company’s product development efforts and accelerate expansion in high-growth markets. 

  

  

 

At least 25 multi-millionaire Canadians used an offshore "sham" allegedly set up by KPMG. For more than two years, KPMG has been fighting a court order to provide the list of names of multi-millionaire clients who had used what the CRA has alleged in court documents is a "sham" Isle of Man tax avoidance structure. The court file, which had seen virtually no activity for much of that time, had remained mysteriously stalled. Last July, KPMG lawyers told the court they were having confidential discussions with the Department of Justice on behalf of the minister of national revenue to settle the matter out of court. Those talks have now broken down, according to a lawyer for KPMG. 

  

  

  

September 2015 

  

  

KPMG ranked #8 in the White Space quality rankings for the first half of 2015. At its best, KPMG is producing reports such as "Paths to population health". Structured around eight questions (e.g. is there a shared understanding for the journey?), KPMG introduces the authors and their credentials up front; explains clearly what organisations need to do; provides engaging case studies to bring the material to life; and offers a maturity matrix encouraging readers to benchmark their own efforts. 

  

  

In the UK, KPMG agreed an alliance with debt crowdfunding platform InvestDen, expanding its alternative finance offering to small businesses, and continuing the Big Four push into the SME space. Through the deal, KPMG will offer a range of services and advice to those businesses raising capital through InvestDen. 

  

  

KPMG teamed up with Metro Bank to form an alliance that will combine their accountancy and banking offerings and target small businesses, with the aim of offering quick and easy access to expert advice and services and cutting red tape. Bivek Sharma, head of small business accounting at KPMG, said: ‘With over a third of decision makers spending more than one day a week tackling administration and red tape, it is not surprising that SMEs see reducing regulation as the number one priority for government to tackle. Our new alliance minimises the time businesses have to spend confronting bureaucratic hurdles. Saving eight and a half hours a week; 34 hours a month; 45 days a year, we’re giving business owners time back to focus on growing their business and achieving their goals". The partnership builds on both KPMG Small Business Accounting’s and Metro Bank’s existing partnership with online accounting specialist Xero, and allows users to set up a business bank account in an under an hour, on average, plus unlimited access to a dedicated KPMG accountant.  

  

  

As part of its global fintech strategy, KPMG International formed an ‘exclusive advisory alliance’ with fintech matchmaking platform, MatchiBiz, which connects banks and insurance companies with financial services technology start-ups and innovations from around the world. KPMG has fintech innovation hubs in the US, UK, Australia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Israel.  

  

  

KPMG Australia bought Hands-on Systems, a technology-based transformation business, so it can do end-to-end technology projects. Australia CEO Gary Wingrove says KPMG has traditionally consulted on the strategy side of transformation programmes with implementation delivered by third parties. “However clients with an eye to the future are looking for multi-disciplinary business partners.”  The acquisition strengthens KPMG'’s global alliance with Microsoft, with KPMG today also being announced as a Gold competency partner for Microsoft Dynamics in Australia. The deal follows the 26m € acquisition of international IT company, Crimsonwing, in February jointly by KPMG’s UK, Netherlands and Malta member firms. KPMG Crimsonwing is now the largest Big Four provider of Microsoft Dynamics consulting and implementation services in Europe. 

  

  

KPMG Spain launched a new consulting area focused on advising the textile and fashion sectors. Luis Lara, a professional with over 20 years experience in various executive positions in the fashion and retail industry, will lead a multidisciplinary team of advising companies in the sector under the name Fashion KPMG to help companies move internationally, implement and integrate their marketing channels, manage innovation and optimise the strategy and operational procedures associated with business processes and supply chains. 

  

  

KPMG in South Africa is hosting the inaugural Mining Executive Forum on African soil on 9 and 10 September 2015. This two-day event provides mining executives with opportunities to network with peers and participate in industry-leader driven interactive and informative sessions. Following 10 successful KPMG Mining Executive Forums held in Canada, it is against the background of increasing investor focus on Africa that the inaugural Africa version of the forum will be held in Johannesburg. 

  

  

August 2015 

  

  

  

KPMG Corporate Finance added a team of professionals from Ewing Bemiss & Company, a mid-market boutique investment bank and transaction advisory service provider, primarily serving clients in energy, power and utilities. KPMG said the addition of Ewing professionals provides KPMG CF with a meaningful presence within the Energy M&A sector. Virginia.-based Ewing was founded in 1992 and provides sale, merger, acquisition and financing services to mid-market companies in the US.  

  

  

KPMG Australia saw its 2015 revenues go up 8% to $1.21 billion - made up of Advisory 49%, Audit 34% and Tax 17%.  

  

  

KPMG is launching a new private members club in the select Mayfair district of London - but the only way of getting on the guest list is by being a client or a partner of the firm. Branded in KPMG marketing material as No. 20, the five-storey converted townhouse at 20 Grosvenor Street will provide a club-like atmosphere for well-heeled clients who feel more at home in London W1 than the glass-and-steel environs of its corporate headquarters in Canary Wharf in faraway Docklands. 

  

  

KPMG announced the completion of its acquisition of the Human Resources Service Delivery practice of Towers Watson, a leading talent and human capital professional services organisation. The closing follows the July 9, 2015 announcement of the transaction. After the close, Stephen N. Chase, U.S. Management Consulting leader of KPMG's Advisory practice, said, "The combination of our global HR transformation teams solidifies our position as a top-tier HR strategy, transformation and Workday HCM (human capital management) partner. This acquisition enables us to help the world's leading companies address their most challenging HR issues. 

  

  

Improving diversity and promoting equal opportunity are a priority for KPMG UK chairman Simon Collins. "We're not promoting women. I’ve always thought of myself having a clean heart and dirty hands on this issue because I’ve felt strongly about it for a long time and yet not made anything like enough of a difference.”  In last year’s intake, the firm doubled the number of female partner appointments to a third of the UK promotions. Creating genuine equality of opportunity is a personal ambition, he says. He has two more years as UK chairman in his current stint and potentially a second term of three years.  

  

  

See also KPMG data analytics campaign - August 2015. 

  

  

In the UK, KPMG is facing an investigation by the accounting watchdog over its work auditing the accounts of troubled AIM-listed insurer Quindell. The Financial Reporting Council inquiry was confirmed hours after Quindell revealed it had plunged to a £68 million loss last year as it slashed the value of reported net assets by £600 million as a result of a series of restatements relating to historic accounting errors. he Serious Fraud office has launched a separate criminal investigation into the business and accounting practices at Quindell. 

  

  

KPMG confirmed an "alliance" with peer-to-peer business lender MarketInvoice as it steps up its move into small business services. Research conducted by the firm found that under current growth rates, big banks stand to lose 10% of their market share to alternative finance providers in the next five years. The tie-up will enable customers of KPMG's Small Business Accounting Service to access MarketInvoice finance directly through their accounting software and will also include a business education programme incorporating regional events, webinars, e-books and online ‘accountancy clinics' for small business owners. KPMG has made great play in recent months of its moves into the SME market, and in October last year invested £40m in its enterprise offering, although it is a shift that has attracted scepticism over whether Big Four outfits can genuinely match the price and service level offering of existing professionals specifically targeting the smaller end of the market.  

  

  

KPMG acquired human rights consultancy Banarra in a move that signals the increasing importance of ethical sourcing, supply chain management and social impact. EY made a similar move last year, acquiring the Net Balance consultancy to boost its climate change and sustainability offering. KPMG Australia chief executive Gary Wingrove said the decision to acquire Banarra was due to the increasing social risks faced by many businesses.“Social expectations are clearly on the minds of C-suites and boards...corporate footprints which are now global, the rise of social media and the need to re-examine an organisation’s purpose are requiring our clients to better understand their human rights and social impacts. Failure to do so can result in reputational damage and exposure to regulatory, legal and commercial risk.” 

  

  

In New Zealand, KPMG merged with Pivot Accounting. The acquisition is to expand territorially within NZ This is a small acquisition, involving eight people transferring to KPMG as a result. 

  

  

  

July 2015 

  

  

KPMG bought consultant High-Point Rendel Ltd. High-Point Rendel specialises in large scale global infrastructure projects mainly in the energy, transportation, and oil and gas sectors. 35 staff from High-Point Rendel will join KPMG’s Major Projects Advisory team to form anew practice known as KPMG-HPR. The new KPMG-HPR practice will be led by High-Point Rendel CEO Kelvin Hingley and MD Nigel Bell, together with Gordon Shearer, Partner at KPMG. Sir Alan Cockshaw, Chairman of High-Point Rendel will also advise KPMG on a consultancy basis. 

  

  

A new quarterly, market-facing publication from KPMG LLP is designed to provide chief tax officers, other C-Suite executives, and board members with a unique window into how their peers are wrestling with important tax topics and addressing related challenges and opportunities. 'Chief Tax Officer (CTO) Insights' captures highlights of top-of-mind tax issues at leading companies, drawing from conversations that KPMG tax partners and managing directors hold regularly with top tax executives. 

  

  

KPMG announced it had entered into an agreement with Towers Watson, to acquire the latter's Human Resources Service Delivery (HRSD) practice. The transaction was signed on July 9 and is expected to close in the coming weeks. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Towers Watson's HRSD practice is a recognised leader in HR transformation with deep expertise in HR service delivery. As technology dynamics shifted around the globe, Towers Watson's HRSD practice has understood the importance of cloud-based solutions and developed leading-edge technology skills to keep pace. Through this transaction, KPMG, together with other member firms of KPMG International, will be acquiring Towers Watson's HRSD practice resources in the United States, United Kingdom, China, Hong Kong, Canada, Singapore, and the Philippines. 

  

  

KPMG made a number of senior leadership appointments in the US firm’s Audit, Tax and Advisory practices, led by US Chair and CEO Lynne Doughtie and Deputy Chair and Chief Operating Officer P. Scott Ozanus. They began their five-year terms as the firm’s top leaders on 1 July. Carl S. Carande will succeed Doughtie as Vice Chair of Advisory. Jeffrey C. LeSage will continue in his role as Vice Chair of Tax. Scott Marcello is Vice Chair of Audit. Laura Newinski has been named the firm’s Vice Chair of Operations. Mike Nolan will assume the role of Vice Chair of Innovation & Enterprise Solutions. Sven Holmes will continue as Vice Chair of Legal, Risk and Regulatory. Rob Arning has been reappointed as Vice Chair of Market Development. Bruce Pfau will also continue as Vice Chair of Human Resources and Communications - details. 

  

  

KPMG in New Zealand acquired Myers Business Solutions, a firm of chartered accountants providing services in Ashburton The company has seven employees and appears to simply be a regional expansion. 

  

  

  

June 2015 

  

  

KPMG LLP was named the ‘Best Company for Asian Pacific Americans to Develop Workforce Skills’ by the Asia Society for the third consecutive year as part of the 2015 Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) Corporate Awards. The Asia Society, a leading global and pan-Asian organisation working to strengthen relationships among the United States and Asia, made the announcement at their seventh annual Diversity Leadership Forum where companies at the forefront of promoting APAs and global diversity were honoured.  

  

  

KPMG announced the acquisition of a leading technological firm in the cyber intelligence and digital surveillance market, ZINK Security. This integration will allow KPMG to investigate and monitor events, information leaks, relationships between people, groups, entities etc. through information available on social networks, forums, blogs, news sites and deep web, as well as other remotely accessible repositories, to assist companies in monitoring, analysing and managing the mass of information generated daily. In recent months, KPMG has invested substantially internationally in strengthening its cyber capabilities. This includes acquisitions of First Point Global, a leading identity and Access management (IAM) consultancy operating in Australia; Qubera, also an IAM operating in the USA, UK and India; P3 Consulting, a Frankfurt-based security boutique consultancy; and most recently Finnish cyber security business, Trusteq Oy – which also specialises in IAM services and security transformation. 

  

  

The UK’s accountancy watchdog launched an investigation into KPMG’s audit of the Bank of New York Mellon, two months after the world’s largest global custody bank was hit with a record UK fine for mixing its own funds with those of clients. The Financial Reporting Council said that it will probe the way KPMG audited client money arrangements at the Bank of New York Mellon London Branch and a subsidiary, Bank of New York Mellon International Limited. BNY Mellon admitted violating client asset rules over a five-year period, from 2007 to 2011. As the bank’s auditor, KPMG examined whether BNY Mellon’s custody arrangements complied with UK client asset rules. 

  

  

KPMG Australia announced a record 51 new partners and executive directors. The breakdown by line of service is as follows: Advisory 50% (dominated by management consulting and deal advisory); Private Enterprise 18%; Tax 18%; Audit 10% and Shared Services 4%. 

  

  

KPMG acquired Boxwood, a company that focuses on delivery of business and operation transformation. Boxwood will joint KPMG's mid-market management consultancy practice. KPMG will admit two new partners to its business as part of the acquisition. For the year ended 31st March, Boxwood's turnover was £15m and employee count was 83. Virtually all of its revenues are in the UK. The business will operate as KPMG Boxwood. 

  

  

KPMG’s Swiss practice – which is currently facing questions about its role as auditor of FIFA – has had audit work it carried out slated by the US audit regulator. In one case, inspectors from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board found such a “significant” deficiency that it seemed to them that the firm “had not obtained sufficient appropriate audit evidence to fulfil the objectives of its role in the audit”. 

  

  

KPMG Australia just disrupted itself, according to the Australian Financial Review, and other professional services firms may need to follow suit. The firm has launched a new online marketplace to offer the idle hours of its high powered staff to clients for short term jobs at a discount. KPMG Australia's lead brand and innovation partner likens KPMG Marketplace to an airline maximising "yield" by selling last-minute seats cheap. The idea grew from a response by a junior staffer to an in-house ideas competition.  

  

  

Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) signed a memorandum of understanding with KPMG Qatar, to promote collaboration. It was signed by Jamal Fakhro, Managing Partner, KPMG Qatar, and Ilker Baybars, Dean, CMU-Q. The university has recently signed deals with Qatar Stock Exchange, Maersk Oil Qatar, and Qatar First Bank to collaborate on educational initiatives, scientific research and community development. 

  

  

  

May 2015 

  

  

KPMG's Frontiers in Finance - June 2015 addressed the areas financial institutions should explore in order to build competitive advantage and increase profitability. 

  

  

KPMG Capital, its global investment fund, has made three new investments in data analytics. Only one is an actual acquisition investment, the other two relate to commitments to fund proprietary initiatives. KPMG has: taken a majority share in UK based data mining and predictive modelling company SDART; invested further into its own propriety 'Online customer and counterparty enhanced due diligence portal' Astrus and invested further into its own propriety 'Customer Experience Platform' Customer Compass, focusing on helping clients analyse customer patterns and segmentation to improve sales and retention strategies. 

  

  

KPMG in the UK acquired Nunwood, an independent consultancy specialising in customer experience management and feedback technology. Founded in 1996, Nunwood advises companies across the retail, telecoms, financial and leisure industries, Nunwood’s revenues for 2014 were £8m. The acquisition enables KPMG to offer a full-service customer management programme to its clients, from mapping the customer journey to measuring ongoing feedback. By bringing the two firms together KPMG is continuing its strategy of driving greater value for clients through increasing adoption of technology in business operations. 

  

  

David Morris, a former partner and the joint head of corporate at DLA, was appointed as KPMG Legal’s new chief. He brings across former DLA senior associate Michelle Monteleone, who has joined KPMG Legal as a special counsel. Morris had previously been a partner in KPMG Legal’s corporate and securities practice from 1996 to 2004. In 2004, KPMG Legal ceased trading under the banner of the Big Four firm. Avoiding conflicts of interest between the legal arm and other parts of the business was cited as a major factor influencing the decision. 

  

  

In the US, KPMG opened an "Ignition" centre in Denver, modeled on leading technology parks and business incubators around the world that feature dedicated, project-focused workspaces designed for information sharing, collaboration and increasing efficiencies during the creative process. KPMG has recruited more than 100 new staff across data science, enterprise architecture, application programming, solution development and IT integration disciplines. 

  

  

KPMG Australia acquired the accounting and advisory business of Perth-based firm, Hayes Knight. 10 staff will join KPMG along with Hayes Knight CEO Bruce Sinclair, who will become a KPMG partner. The acquisition grows KPMG’s Private Enterprise team in Perth to 50.  

  

  

  

April 2015 

  

KPMG LLP acquired the ServiceNow Professional Services practice of Triad Technology Partners for an undisclosed sum. Triad’s ServiceNow employees have joined KPMG’s CIO advisory practice as part of the acquisition. The number of employees and revenues attributed to these employees have not been disclosed. Triad specialises in providing ServiceNow full life cycle implementation services: including end-to-end planning and design, ITIL best practice process workshops, TriadLabs Accelerators, robust integrations, and customised training. 

  

KPMG announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Beacon Partners, Inc., a healthcare consulting firm that offers strategic management and clinical and information technology consulting services to healthcare providers. Financial terms aren’t being disclosed for the deal, which KPMG announced Sunday. WSJ that the firm has annual revenue of more than $60 million. On Linkedin it states they employ between 200 to 500 staff. 

  

KPMG tied up with the world’s largest free business accelerator to deliver business advice and support to thousands of entrepreneurs across the UK. It is to provide 1,000 hours of business advice and support a month over the next three years to Entrepreneurial Spark and NatWest, which was formed in 2011. Since then the alliance has helped nearly 1,000 start-ups which in turn have created more than 1,700 jobs.  

  

KPMG is lending its voice to one of the most discussed topics in business of the moment - women’s leadership - with glass ceilings literally shattering in in a new TV commercial. The campaign, KPMG’s first in more than a decade, will help promote the inaugural KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the KPMG Women’s Leadership Summit. The marketing push will also include print ads in publications such as Fortune, USA Today and Golf Magazine and a social-media campaign with the hashtag #breakglassceilings. 

 

March 2015 

  

Microsoft and KPMG announced an expansion to their strategic partnership to include a global partnership based on data and analytics, cloud and business offerings. The deal brings together Microsoft's technology and KPMG, which consults businesses on how to use Microsoft's Business Intelligence (BI), Analytics and Microsoft Dynamics products to rejuvenate their business operations. Microsoft and KPMG say the strategic collaboration, based on Microsoft's Azure, Dynamics and data platforms, is designed to "develop and deploy solutions and services that will help address the disruptive challenges topping the board agenda today. 

  

KPMG signed a letter of intent to sell part of its SME practice, focused on payroll and pensions to 'Dutch software company' EBPI. Details of consideration and number of employees was not confirmed, although the article states KPMG has 150 staff focused on SMEs. 

  

KPMG and UK Trade & Investment announced a strategic partnership in order to support British exports of goods and expertise. The first initiative to be announced involves a continuation of work with the highly prestigious NHS Leadership Academy. With the support of Healthcare UK, the government body which supports the UK health sector to undertake business overseas, KPMG will work with the NHS Leadership Academy to take their successful training programmes to countries where there is growing demand. 

  

KPMG exclusively partnered with Hawkamah, the Institute for corporate governance, which works with corporate governance institutions regionally and globally, to establish the first Audit Committee Institute in the UAE. 

  

In the UK, KPMG formed a partnership with specialist leadership & behavioural learning consulting firm, Lane 4, which was founded in 1995 by Olympic swimmer Adrian Moorhouse. KPMG’s head of People & Change, Tim Payne, commented, “Talent is at or near the top of the agenda for all of our clients. Our partnership with Lane4 will bring practical approaches to identifying, selecting and developing talent at all levels.” 

  

UK-headquartered technology company Flexeye has international expansion on the cards after securing a £3m investment from KPMG. KPMG said the investment, which is part of its multimillion-pound, long-term ambition to "lead in the UK advisory market", follows a successful partnership between the two companies to deploy a technology system in a UK high street bank to prevent the mis-selling of products. Applications of Flexeye's technology currently include the banking industry in preventing further mis-selling of products, transport companies to improve efficiency and by local governments to enhance public safety. 

  

KPMG is to spend hundreds of millions buying boutique advisory businesses in the UK as it tries to steal a march on its rivals and capitalise on the recovery. Richard Fleming, the head of advisory at KPMG UK, said that the division was aiming to pretty much double its annual turnover to £1.5 billion over the next three to four years. 

  

KPMG Australia will acquire Asia Pacific cyber security technology solutions business, First Point Global, as part of a global strategy to expand the firm’s cyber capabilities.  The announcement marks the fourth cyber acquisition by the KPMG international network in the past five months. First Point Global specialises in identity and access management (IAM). Founding partners John Havers and Jan Zeilinga will join KPMG’s Cyber security leadership team and bring with them 30 professionals - the largest specialist IAM team in the country. The combined team, to be known as KPMG First Point Global, will offer clients a full spectrum of cyber services spanning consulting, systems implementation and ongoing support. 

  

KPMG announced the appointment of Bill Robinson as its new Chief Economist and Head of the Economics Institute in SIGHT, the firm’s thought leadership arm. Robinson joined KPMG in 2007. He is the founder member, and now Chairman, of a client-facing economics practice of over 70 professionals, turning over more than £15m helping clients deal with the competition authorities, the regulators and with commercial disputes. In the early part of his career he was an economic forecaster in 10 Downing Street, HM Treasury, the European Commission and the London Business School. He subsequently became Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, wrote a weekly economics column for the Independent and then advised the Major government on tax policy as Special Adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.  When he left government, Robinson joined the commercial world and has 20 years’ experience as a client-facing micro economist. He was a director of the niche consultancy London Economic and spent six years as Head of Business Economics at PwC before joining KPMG.  

  

KPMG acquired the Indian arm of  Spanish boutique advisory firm AF-Mercados for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition is structured in a way that the brand - Mercados - would continue to be the Spanish firm, while KPMG would acquire its India capabilities. In other words, KPMG would have the right over all the ongoing contracts of the company in India and some of the solutions that Mercados offers.  

  

  

February 2015 

  

KPMG appointed William O'Mara as global head of audit, effective March 1, replacing Larry Bradley who has been in the role since 2011. O’Mara, a senior audit partner with KPMG LLP, the U.S. member firm of KPMG International, has extensive international experience having served as KPMG Global Lead Partner for several of the U.S. firm’s largest multinational clients, as well as previously holding senior executive roles in the financial services and industrial sectors. He has also served a term on the Board of Directors of KPMG LLP (US). 

  

KPMG announced the launch of three new global centres of excellence focusing on Customer, Enterprise Performance Management and Supply Chain. The firm already has centres of excellence covering CIO Advisory, Human Resources, Procurement, and Shared Services & Outsourcing Advisory.  

  

KPMG is reportedly moving its online presence to a new platform, layout and also later this year to its own .kpmg top-level domain. 

  

  

The KPMG Global Africa Practice launched a new Africa Business App – a first for the industry. The dynamic new platform will provide businesses and investors with seamless access to the very latest Africa information about doing business across the continent. 

  

KPMG acquired the internationally operating consultancy Trompenaars Hampden-Turner (THT). THT’s specialisations include solutions to issues and dilemmas in the field of culture, leadership, behavioural change and diversity within organisations. The Amsterdam based company was founded in 1985 by Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner. Within KPMG, THT will be part of the company’s international People & Change practice, which helps companies to implement far-reaching organisational changes. The practice focuses primarily on creating and developing HR organisations that are in line with new organisational structures and help organisations to maximise returns from their human capital. 

  

KPMG UK and its chief operating officer were fined by the Financial Reporting Council for breaching ethical standards over the COO's failure to sell shares in KPMG client Cable and Wireless Worldwide when he became a partner of KPMG in 2011. He was fined £39,000 and KPMG was fined £227,000.  

  

KPMG Cambodia bought out one of its local competitors in an effort to position itself before ASEAN integration later this year. KPMG Cambodia acquired Premier Consulting (Cambodia) Limited, a Phnom Penh based audit, tax and advisory business. Details of the purchase were not disclosed.  

  

January 2015  

  

KPMG made its third cyber security acquisition in four months  KPMG Finland has acquired 100% of Trusteq Oy, a 45 strong Finnish cybersecurity consulting company specialising in identity and access management services and security transformation projects. The move comes shortly after KPMG’s acquisition of two other security businesses - Qubera, a leading identity and access management consultancy operating in the US and UK, with an offshore capability in India and P3 Consulting, a Frankfurt based security boutique. 

  

KPMG declared its intention to disrupt and dominate the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) market by telling small businesses "you can pay us the same as your current accountant but we'll give you more".   That's the stance taken by the firm as it seeks to reap the rewards from its £40m investment in its enterprise programme, which includes subscription-based cloud accountancy support for small businesses. KPMG announced it will take on high-street accountants and the mid-tier accountancy firms that focus predominantly on the SME market. Iain Moffatt, KPMG's UK head of regions, said: "This is the biggest investment KPMG has made in the SME market in the past 30 years. The small business accounting platform allows us to enter a market that we haven't previously had access to. It's a transformational change in our business. For the first time, a Big Four firm can offer services to start‐ups and small businesses for a similar price as high-street accountants." 

  

A Bulgarian regulator said it would fine KPMG and two of its employees, saying they did not properly vet the books of Corporate Commercial Bank before it was hit by a run on deposits. KPMG did not have any immediate comment. Corpbank, majority owned by a businessman charged with embezzlement, was hit by a bank run in June, triggering the country's worst financial crisis since the 1990s. 

  

One-in-10 of KPMG US current and former female employees who were asked to join a class action suit against the firm have signed up. Attorneys representing the class action said that nearly 900 women had opted to join the gender discrimination case.  

  

December 2014 

  

Stephanie Schnabel joined KPMG as Head of Corporate Development, responsible for sourcing, planning and executing transactions, divestitures and joint ventures that support KPMG’s growth activities. Schnabel previously served as Managing Director of Corporate Development at Accenture, responsible for the firm’s global acquisition and divestiture activities - details.

  

EY, liquidator of the collapsed Scottish property fund Heather Capitals, launched a multi-million pound claim against KPMG, the fund's former auditor. EY alleged in court filings that many of the loans made by Heather to property developers were “a fabrication and a sham.” KPMG said that it will "vigorously defend" against the action. 

  

Highlights of KPMG UK's performance for the financial year ending 30 September 2014: revenues up 5% to £1.909 billion; profit before tax down 9% to £414 million; average partner pay up 0.3% to £715,000; employee bonus pool up 9.6% to £80 million; staff numbers up 5% (588 partners and 11,300 staff; chairman's pay up 4% to £2.5 million; new audit appointments at Compass, Royal Mail and Smith & Nephew; retained audits at Standard Chartered and Old Mutual; secured one-third of audits re-tendered in the FTSE350; received 38,000 graduate applications for 850 places; to recruit 1,120 graduates and school leavers; five "strategic growth investments" - cyber security, technology, enterprise (SMEs), digital & analytics and "P3" (people management); announcement of detailed diversity and inclusion targets. 

  

Highlights of KPMG UK's performance for the financial year ending 30 September 2014: revenues up 5% to £1.909 billion; profit before tax down 9% to £414 million; average partner pay up 0.3% to £715,000; employee bonus pool up 9.6% to £80 million; staff numbers up 5% (588 partners and 11,300 staff; Chairman's pay up 4% to £2.5 million; new audit appointments at Compass, Royal Mail and Smith & Nephew; retained audits at Standard Chartered and Old Mutual; secured one-third of audits re-tendered in the FTSE350; received 38,000 graduate applications for 850 places; to recruit 1,120 graduates and school leavers; five "strategic growth investments" - cyber security, technology, enterprise (SMEs), digital & analytics and "P3" (people management) and announcement of detailed diversity and inclusion targets. 

  

KPMG International announced a rise in revenues to $24.82bn for its network firms last year, up 6.3% in local currency terms over the previous year, and has also recruited a record number of new staff. The results for the financial year ending 30 September 2014 showed revenue across Europe, Middle East and Africa (including India) increased by 4.7%, with strong growth in the UK, Ireland, Spain and Switzerland. The strongest performing region for the network was the Americas, with revenues up by 10.1%. There was weaker growth in the Asia Pacific region, where growth of 3.8% was reported. Nearly half of the network’s revenue was generated from audit which increased 3.8% to $10.46bn. This was a significant upturn from the previous year, where audit only grew by 1.2%. Tax revenues grew 6.1% to $5.27bn up from 4.2% in FY13, driven by an increased demand for tax compliance and tax advisory services in all three regions. Total advisory revenues for the year were up by 10.4% to $9.09bn, up from 6.5% in FY13. There was also increased demand for transactions and restructuring services (up 10.8%), along with risk consulting services (12.3% rise) and management consulting (9.6%). 

  

KPMG has made an offer to acquire Crimsonwing, an international IT company focusing on Microsoft Dynamics and e-Commerce business solutions. KPMG's offer values Crimsonwing at €26 million. If successful, the acquired business will become known as KPMG Crimsonwing and will be jointly owned by KPMG's firms in the UK, Netherlands and Malta. 

  

In Argentina, consulting firm D'Alessio IROL entered a strategic partnership with the local branch of KPMG to offer complementary auditing and consulting services. 

  

KPMG's investment fund invested in Bottlenose, a real-time trend intelligence business. The ‘substantial' investment has been made by KPMG Capital, which was formed a year ago to help fund data and analytics businesses via strategic acquisitions, technology partnerships and other models. KPMG Capital has also secured a licence for KPMG member firms to use and deploy the advanced capabilities of the Bottlenose application, ‘Nerve Center', as an important tool in generating strategic insights to help their clients more effectively combat threats and amplify opportunities which affect their businesses.  

  

November 2014 

  

In Australia, KPMG acquired SGA Property Consultancy, hoping to capitalise on growing inward property investment from Asia to grow its current property related revenue of $60 million. SGA's 65 staff include chartered building surveyors, building certifiers, engineers and environmental scientists, with offices in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Canberra, Auckland and Singapore. KPMG CEO Gary Wingrove commented, "We do see a lot of opportunity in the real estate and property markets. What we would traditionally have done is if a client appoints us to do the financial aspects of a due diligence piece of work, the client would separately contract a firm such as SGA to provide the technical advice." 

  

KPMG formed a strategic alliance with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) around the issue of wealth and long-term savings. The alliance will launch with KPMG’s headline sponsorship of the ABI’s Retirement Conference in February 2015. The alliance will see the two organisations work together on a range of different events and activities throughout next year.  

  

Corporates & Startups: Hip, but not happening is the latest edition of New Horizons, KPMG's annual research on the potential for cooperation between startups and corporations. KPMG's conclusion is that collaboration between corporates and start-ups is mainly superficial. On the face of it, the worlds seem avidly engaged in sounding each other out. Yet closer observation reveals loads of window dressing, as collaboration is frequently sought in 'easy' territory only rather than as a way to crack major strategic problems.  

  

KPMG announced a 10 year strategic alliance with F1 motor racing team, McLaren. McLaren has already diversified from Formula 1, utilising its predictive analytics expertise in pharmaceutical R&D, air traffic scheduling systems and oil & gas process optimisation. KPMG’s UK Chairman Simon Collins said, "Our alliance with McLaren gives us the opportunity to accelerate the transformation of our audit and advisory businesses. McLaren has honed sophisticated predictive analytics and technologies that can be applied to many business issues. We believe this specialist knowledge has the power to radically transform audit, improving quality and providing greater insight to management teams, audit committees and investors. The same is true of our advisory services, where we believe applying McLaren's predictive analytics and know-how to, for example, a complex international supply chain, could help our clients make a step change in the service they provide to their customers." 

  

In Germany, KPMG acquired cybersecurity firm P3, which specialises in security assessments, mobile and fixed network protection and risk management to financial services clients. The acquisition adds four partners and 100 staff to KPMG's cybersecurity team in Germany, and comes hot on the heels of the firms of Qubera Solutions acquisition. 

  

KPMG announced a five-year alliance with venture capital firm Artesian Venture Partners, which aims to “provide up to 1000 Australian high growth startups with a new structure of support and capital, to expedite their business”. Artesian currently manages co-investment funds for Sydney Angels, BlueChilli, ilab, iAccelerate and Slingshot. Artesian Partner and COO, Tim Heasley, commented, KPMG’s Head of Innovation, Martin Sheppard, said, “Proactively engaging with Australia’s startup ecosystem is critical to our innovation strategy. It will expose us and our clients to new growth opportunities; provide early insights into emerging and disruptive technologies, and help us and our clients stay ahead of the curve." 

  

KPMG acquired the Global Trade Management Practice of SAP specialist, EntryPoint Consulting. The EntryPoint team will join KPMG’s Trade and Customs Practice. KPMG looks to the acquisition to help provide multinational clients with more robust regulatory and technology consulting capability around SAP global trade management applications and services. EntryPoint’s industry capabilities include aerospace and defence, consumer products, high tech, industrial machinery, medical devices, pharma and biotech.  

  

KPMG US and MetricStream, which provides governance, risk, and compliance solutions, announced the formation of a strategic alliance to provide a comprehensive suite of GRC consulting and technology services to businesses nationwide. 

  

October 2014 

  

In their latest annual inspection, US regulators found deficiencies in 23 of the 50 audits conducted by KPMG US. The US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board also unsealed confidential criticisms of KPMG's quality controls made in 2011 and 2012--a rebuke to KPMG for not acting quickly enough to fix quality-control problems. KPMG said, "we are committed to continually improving our firm and to working constructively with the PCAOB to improve audit quality." 

  

KPMG announced plans to create a new strategy consulting unit. KPMG, which is already advising approximately one-third of the Fortune 100 on strategy, is creating its own strategy unit to keep up with growing demand for its services. KPMG Strategy will be housed under the company’s advisory practice. While the firm will not disclose how many employees will work directly for the new unit, KPMG says 900 employees across 35 firms around the world are “aligned” with the venture. Lynne Doughtie, KPMG’s vice chair of advisory and the only woman currently leading the U.S. advisory and consulting practice of a big four firm, will oversee KPMG Strategy. 

  

KPMG invested £40 million in the UK to extend its mid-market services to small and start-up businesses via a new technology platform. The launch of KPMG Enterprise, a new strategic investment, expands its service offerings to the growing network of 4.9 million privately-owned businesses across the UK. Included within KPMG Enterprise is KPMG's new small business accounting service, which uses a new digital technology platform to provide online accounting and tax services - including accounts preparation, bookkeeping, payroll, VAT and corporate tax returns - to small and start-up enterprises via the cloud. The service will also offer access to one-to-one advice from KPMG experts, with fees starting from £150 per month.  

  

KPMG UK admitted that the class, gender, ethnic and sexual orientation of its staff does not reflect the make-up of British society or its client base. To correct the imbalance, it unveiled a detailed diversity profile of its 11,500 staff and announced three-year targets  to benchmark itself and recruit and develop its workforce. KPMG says it now has the most detailed targets in its industry. 

  

KPMG UK said it will not compete with law firms, instead focusing on the accountancy market. KPMG, which followed PwC to become the second Big 4 firm to get an alternative business structure licence, is planning to move into the areas of corporate, commercial, immigration and employment law, which it has traditionally referred to law firms. KPMG said it will expand from 50 to 150 lawyers.  

  

KPMG acquired certain assets of Qubera Solutions, a leading privately-held cybersecurity firm that provides identity and access management (IAM) services to large global companies. KPMG says the transaction strengthens the security transformation capabilities of network firms in Cloud Identity Federation, Identity as a Service, Identity Governance and IAM solution implementation. This transaction follows the acquisitions of Cincinnati-based technology-consulting firm Zanett Commercial Solutions, digital and mobile technology firm Cynergy Systems and Link Analytics. 

  

Thousands of current and former female KPMG employees in the US were given the opportunity to join in with a class action lawsuit against the firm. Some 9,000 women who work or have worked at KPMG since October 2008 were emailed with details about a collective action that challenges alleged pay discrimination at the US firm. The action revolves around a former KPMG manager who spent 17 years working in the firm's New York office before resigning, then claiming that she and other females suffered gender discrimination. The firm has been accused of developing a hostile work environment in which women are underpaid and rarely promoted to leadership roles.  

  

  

September 2014 

  

KPMG will urge its clients to abandon the "boilerplate" structures of current audits and disclose in-depth details of the major risks it identifies in a move to encourage transparency. KPMG said it was inviting all of its UK listed clients to include detailed commentary from a senior audit partner as part of "long-form" reports recommended by the Financial Reporting Council in 2013. 

  

KPMG is targeting big businesses by working with Oracle to provide services through the software giant’s cloud offering. Through what is known as KPMG Powered Finance, the firm will use Oracle Cloud to deliver its expertise, financial processing, analytics and reporting to customers. The collaboration will begin by offering core finance processes in the Oracle Cloud. The service can be used by businesses to transform finance functions, as well as for collating data and sorting it in the cloud. The collaboration will also enable KPMG's clients to benchmark against high-performing businesses in their own sector.  

  

KPMG increased its overall lead as the most prolific auditor of UK stock market companies, while PwC remains the most dominant auditor of the UK's largest listed companies, industry data has shown. According to the latest quarterly figures from Adviser Rankings, KPMG gained five stock market clients for the three months to 5 August, taking its total number of clients to 399 and extending its lead over PwC. 

  

August 2014 

  

KPMG acquired the Workday Consulting Practice from AXIA Consulting, a provider of technology and business consulting services to mid-market and Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. KPMG says the acquisition strengthens its capabilities around Workday, a leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for human capital management and finance. 

  

July 2014 

  

KPMG and Imperial College London announced the launch of the 'KPMG Centre for Advanced Business Analytics. KPMG will invest over £20m, with the aim of putting the UK at the forefront of data science. The project will focus on five key areas - analysis of business capital, growth opportunities, people, operations and resilience. 

  

KPMG in the US completed its acquisition of Rothstein Kass and admitted most former Rothstein Kass principals and staff. The combination integrates the two firms’ alternative investments practices, which has more than 6,000 Partners and professionals globally. This combines Rothstein Kass’s hedge fund service capabilities with the private equity, real estate, infrastructure and hedge fund group within KPMG’s global Financial Services practice - details.

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