KPMG Netherlands discovered after a whistleblower report that some 500 employees had committed exam fraud between 2017 and 2022 and was fined $25 million by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), a regulator in the United States. For now, no fine will follow from the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets. The chairman of the supervisory board and a board member of KPMG Netherlands left, several auditors were sanctioned and in addition, of course, it was bad for the prestige of the company and the profession. Because yes, there appears to be exam fraud at many other accounting firms as well.
According to the U.S. regulator, the leadership of KPMG Netherlands had “failed” in promoting an ethical corporate culture. Still, CEO Stephanie Hottenhuis says in NRC, “We had a whistleblower who dared to come forward. We are very grateful to that person. You need people who dare to stand up.”
See, we love that at The Integrity Coordinator. Many top managers could take an example from that.
In addition, as training providers, we do wonder: how is it possible that so many professionals apparently did not find it useful to complete this mandatory training themselves? Isn’t there something wrong with the training then? Fortunately, we receive good ratings from participants in our Whistleblower Protection Act course. We will soon publish course dates for 2025, but you can already express your interest.
And if you want to know how to set up an interesting compliance training course yourself, follow the English-language course to become a “Certified Ethics & Compliance Officer,” which our sister company ECMC: Ethics & Compliance Management & Consulting has created together with SoSecure International. During this course, aimed at non-financials, you will also learn all about whistleblowers and setting up an effective ethics and compliance program.
And um Financial Markets Authority: do you also check whether all parties under your supervision have properly set up the legally required whistleblower procedures, including anonymous reporting channels and an independent coordinator? It’s important, as is evident once again.
