IAG ends 26-year audit deal with KPMG over tenure
IAG is replacing KPMG as auditor after 26 years, costing the firm $11.6 million in annual fees.
Insurance Australia Group told investors Friday it would seek a new auditor, ending a 26-year relationship dating to the company's stock-market listing in 2000. The decision costs KPMG $11.6 million annually in audit fees.
Audit tenure was the board's stated reason for the change. KPMG is facing a pattern of client defections.
Property giant Lendlease severed its 68-year audit relationship with KPMG, losing the firm $10.9 million a year. Macquarie cancelled a planned $74.9 million audit contract in August.
The departures follow a scandal involving KPMG's handling of confidential client information, which led to the resignation of former chief executive Andrew Yates and chair Martin Sheppard. A parliamentary inquiry is still probing the firm's practices.
- A$11.6 million annually
- IAG audit fees lost
- 26 years
- KPMG relationship length
- A$10.9 million annually
- Lendlease fees lost
- A$74.9 million
- Macquarie contract cancelled
Why it mattersKPMG has lost multiple major clients in recent months, eroding its standing with Australia's biggest companies.
AustraliaIAG is one of Australia's biggest listed companies; its audit switch signals deepening problems for KPMG's business across Australia as other firms may review their own contracts.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 6 d ago
