HOT DEBATE
CAROL PATON: Arguments for and against saving KPMG from its sins
Should KPMG SA live or die? This is a question being hotly debated. It might soon be an academic one if things continue on last week’s trajectory. It could all be over for KPMG by the end of the week. As Bell Pottinger and Arthur Andersen have shown, when a firm goes down it goes down fast and there is hardly time to put a rescue strategy in place. KPMG SA is adamant it is not contemplating a rescue plan — as in looking for a buyer — and that its objective remains to save the firm in its present form, along with its name. But the problem is an angry public that wants blood. There are also political interests on both sides of the ANC divide that want retribution. Apart from the South African Reserve Bank, which sees a potential financial stability problem with the demise of one of the big four auditing firms, the company is isolated.The arguments for "saving" KPMG include the financial stability issue. As each of the big four banks need two auditors and should also rotate auditors, i...
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