Former KPMG director Mike Baird has admitted the accounting giant’s independent directors were initially too trusting of how the firm presented explosive whistleblower claims to the board, and says the company’s response lacked urgency.
The former NSW premier, who served as an independent director at the consulting firm from 2022 until September last year, also criticised KPMG’s controversial use of a legal defence to keep details from a Senate inquiry where he gave evidence today.
Former independent KPMG director Mike Baird says the company was too slow to respond to the allegations.AAP
Baird was blunt in expressing his unhappiness with how KPMG responded to whistleblower’s complaint, which has thrown the consulting giant into turmoil and led to the resignation of its most senior executives and the loss of business from major clients.
“As you’ll see in my letter, I was also unhappy with the progress on the whistleblower claims, and my request was that, well, pursuing the external investigation had been secured before I resigned, and that was important to me,” Baird told the hearing.