The watchdog panel which cleared KPMG of wrongdoing over the collapse of HBOS was stuffed with former staff members of the tainted accountancy firm. An investigation by the Mail has found at least three former KPMG employees served on the committee which oversaw the investigation into the firm’s audit of the toxic lender. Together, these three had more than 65 years’ experience with the firm.
On top of this, the regulator is chaired by grandee Sir Win Bischoff, who was chairman of the bank which rescued HBOS, Lloyds, from 2009 until 2014. Lloyds bought HBOS for £12billion in 2008, then got £20.5billion of taxpayers’ cash to keep it afloat. This week, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) dropped a probe into KPMG’s 2007 audit of HBOS, which was given a clean bill of health months before collapsing. Last night, MPs demanded a second probe into potential conflicts of interest. The Mail asked the FRC to confirm whether any of the former KPMG staff were involved in the investigation – but it refused to reveal any details.
— source thisismoney.co.uk 2017-09-24