KPMG’s head of HR, general counsel to leave firm
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The scandal-plagued accounting firm has seen another two top officials depart days before the next scheduled public hearing into allegations of misconduct and whistleblower mismanagement.
As reported in The Australian Financial Review, KPMG general counsel Louise Capon and HR head Dorothy Hisgrove have stepped down from their respective roles as the inquiry into misconduct continues.
While Capon will step down immediately from her role after more than 10 years with KPMG, she will remain for a short transition period, and Hisgrove will end her five years as the firm’s national managing partner of people and inclusion once a replacement is made.
Capon and Hisgrove are both scheduled to appear at the upcoming parliamentary joint committee hearing into the audit misconduct allegations on Friday.
KPMG declined to comment at the time of publication.
The parliamentary joint committee on corporations and financial services has been examining allegations raised by a whistleblower and former KPMG executive since March, when Senator Deborah O’Neill first aired the allegations in Parliament.
As reported in HR Leader’s sister brand, Accounting Times, the committee has examined allegations that KPMG misused confidential audit information and the treatment of the whistleblower after they raised concerns.
A recent investigation by global law firm Allens confirmed one of the whistleblower’s allegations: that client information was inappropriately retained in a locker by former chief operating officer Eileen Hoggett. This was previously denied by KPMG.
The firm has seen a number of departures from its senior leadership team since the scandal unfolded, including former chief executive Andrew Yates, former chairman Martin Sheppard, former national managing partner of audit and assurance Julian McPherson, and audit partners Kim Lawry and Paul Rogers. Former chief operating officer Eileen Hoggett was also expelled from the partnership last month after new evidence was uncovered by Allens.
Elsewhere, HR Leader recently examined the specific HR failings exhibited by KPMG, and the systemic culture of secrecy that steered the whistleblower’s revelations to HR before senior leadership.
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A whistle-blower is a member of staff who reports internal practices that violate the law, the company's policies, or both. The Companies Act of 2001 provides various protections (as well as limitations) for whistle-blowers.
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