As the collapsed construction firm tried to ‘wriggle out’ of pension contributions
UK’s accountancy watchdog has said that it will launch an investigation into accountancy firm KPMG over its audits of collapsed construction giant Carillion.
This development comes after Frank Field, the chair of the Commons work and pensions committee, accused Carillion of trying to “wriggle out of its obligations to its pensioners, while it carried on paying shareholder dividends and bosses’ bonuses.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) announced today that it will open an investigation to see “whether the auditor has breached any relevant requirements, in particular the ethical and technical standards for auditors”.
KPMG has said it would cooperate fully with the investigation and it believed it had conducted its role as Carillion’s auditor “appropriately and responsibly”.
Welcoming the investigation, Business Secretary Greg Clark said: ‘I welcome today’s announcement from the Financial Reporting Council that following their initial enquires into the collapse of Carillion they will be opening an investigation into KPMG’s audit of the company’s financial statements.
‘I had written previously to the FRC asking them about this matter and trust their investigation will be conducted as quickly and thoroughly as possible.’
The probe will cover the period ended 2014, 2015 and 2016, and additional audit work carried out last year.
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