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Team KPMG : ALS CUP 4 A CURE als.ca |
KPMG is one of the largest professional services firms in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (Deloitte) and Ernst & Young (EY). Its global headquarters are located in Amstelveen, Netherlands.[1] KPMG employs over 136,500 people[3] in a global network of professional services firms spanning over 140 countries.[4] KPMG has three lines of services: audit, tax, and advisory.
[edit] History[edit] Early years and mergers  The firm was established in 1870 when William Barclay Peat formed an accounting firm in London.[5] In 1877 accountancy firm Thomson McLintock opened an office in Glasgow[5] and in 1911 William Barclay Peat & Co. and Marwick Mitchell & Co. merged to form Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co, later known as Peat Marwick. Meanwhile in 1917 Piet Klynveld opened his accounting-firm in Amsterdam. Later he merged with Kraayenhof to form Klynveld Kraayenhof & Co. In 1979 Klynveld Kraayenhof & Co. (Netherlands), Thomson McLintock (United States) and Deutsche Treuhandgesellschaft (Germany) formed KMG (Klynveld Main Goerdeler) as a grouping of independent national practices to create a strong European-based international firm.[5] Then in 1987 KMG and Peat Marwick joined forces in the first mega-merger of large accounting firms and formed a firm called KPMG in the US, and most of the rest of the world, and Peat Marwick McLintock in the UK.[5] In 1990 the two firms settled on the common name of KPMG Peat Marwick McClintock but in 1991 the firm was renamed KPMG Peat Marwick and in 1995 the name was reduced again to KPMG. In 1997 KPMG and Ernst & Young announced that they were to merge, in a manoeuvre largely seen as a spoiling tactic over the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand. However that merger, to form PricewaterhouseCoopers, was granted regulatory approval while the KPMG/Ernst & Young tie-up was later abandoned.[6] [edit] Recent historyIn 2001 KPMG divested its U.S. consulting firm through an IPO of KPMG Consulting Inc, which is now called BearingPoint, Inc.[7] In early 2009, BearingPoint filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and proceeded to sell portions of the firm to Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and other parties.[8] The UK and Dutch consulting arms were sold to Atos Origin in 2002.[9] In 2003 KPMG divested itself of its legal arm, Klegal[10] and KPMG LLP sold its Dispute Advisory Services to FTI Consulting.[11] KPMG's member firms in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein merged to form KPMG Europe LLP in October 2007. They appointed joint Chairmen, John Griffith-Jones and Ralf Nonnenmacher. [5] It was announced in December 2008 that two of Tremont Group’s Rye Select funds, audited by KPMG, had $2.37 billion invested with the Madoff "Ponzi scheme."[12] Class action suits were filed.[13] [edit] Global structureEach national KPMG firm is an independent legal entity and is a member of KPMG International, a Swiss cooperative registered in the Swiss Canton of Zug. KPMG International changed its legal structure from a Swiss Verein to a co-operative under Swiss law in 2003.[14] KPMG International is led by:[15]
[edit] ServicesKPMG offers the following services:[16]
[edit] Major clients KPMG member firms serve as the independent auditors for a large number of major corporations:
[edit] Name and branding Roots for the name KPMG stem from the names of four partners who merged their own independent accounting firms:
[edit] StaffThe US branch of KPMG was rated one of the top 10 companies for working mothers.[17] It is also ranked No. 56 on Fortune Magazine's list of 100 Best Companies to Work For, voted for by employees.[18] KPMG ranks No. 5 out of 125 among companies with the best training programs according to "Training Magazine".[19] KPMG was the preferred employer among the Big Four accounting firms according to College Grad.com.[20] It was also ranked No.4 on the list of "50 Best Places to Launch a Career" in 2009 according to BusinessWeek.[21] In 2008 KPMG in the UK was named the best big company to work for by The Times. This was the fourth consecutive year that KPMG has made the top three winning three times in that four years. If a good position is obtained in the survey staff receive an extra days holiday, some have suggested that this could influence how staff fill in the survey thus putting the validity of the award in doubt.[22] In 2009 in the UK, KPMG introduced programme known as 'Flexible Futures'. This allowed staff to volunteer to give the firm the option to either send them on a sabbatical at 30% pay for up to 12 weeks, or to reduce their working hours to 4 days a week. The option remains open to the firm until October 2010. This facility has been invoked by the firm in some departments. KPMG publicised this as innovative and an alternative approach to redundancies. Reaction within the firm was generally positive, with over 75% of staff volunteering. However over 100 staff had been made redundant prior to this announcement, leading some to accuse KPMG of being hypocritical in the message that they were given.[23] In October 2008, KPMG was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine. Later that month, KPMG was also named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers, which was announced by the Toronto Star newspaper.[24]  [edit] Criticisms[edit] Rite AidIn 2003, KPMG agreed to pay $125 million to settle a lawsuit stemming from the firm's audits of the drug chain Rite Aid.[25] [edit] Lernout & HauspieIn 2004, KPMG agreed to pay $115 million to settle lawsuits stemming from the collapse of software company Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products NV.[26] [edit] Tax shelter fraudMain article: KPMG tax shelter fraud In early 2005, the United States member firm, KPMG LLP, was accused by the United States Department of Justice of fraud in marketing abusive tax shelters. KPMG LLP admitted criminal wrongdoing in creating fraudulent tax shelters to help wealthy clients avoid $2.5 billion in taxes and agreed to pay $456 million in penalties in exchange for a deferred prosecution agreement. KPMG LLP would not face criminal prosecution if it complied with the terms of its agreement with the government. On January 3, 2007, the criminal conspiracy charges against KPMG were dropped.[27] However, Federal Attorney Michael J. Garcia stated that the charges could be reinstated if KPMG does not continue to submit to continued monitorship through September 2008.[28] Before the settlement, the firm, on the advice of its counsel Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, removed several tax partners and admitted "unlawful conduct" by those partners. The firm agreed to cooperate with DOJ's investigation and help prosecute former partners who had devised and sold the tax shelters. Additionally, the firm hired former U.S. district judge Sven Erik Holmes to monitor its legal and regulatory affairs. [edit] SiemensIn February 2007 KPMG Germany was investigated for ignoring questionable payments in the Siemens bribery case.[29] (Siemens agreed to pay a record $1.34 billion in fines to settle the case in December, 2008.) In November 2008 the Siemens Supervisory Board recommended changing auditors from KPMG to Ernst & Young.[30] [edit] OthersIn 2006, Fannie Mae sued KPMG for malpractice for approving years of erroneous financial statements.[31] In March 2008 KPMG was accused of enabling “improper and imprudent practices” at New Century Financial, a failed mortgage company[32] and KPMG agreed to pay $80 million to settle suits from Xerox shareholders over manipulated earnings reports.[33] [edit] SponsorshipIn February 2008, Phil Mickelson, ranked one of the best golfers in the world, signed a three-year global sponsorship deal with KPMG. As part of the agreement, Mickelson will wear the KPMG logo on his headwear during all golf related appearances.[34] [edit] Notable current and former employees[edit] Business
[edit] Politics and public service
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