KPMG to avoid criminal trial
The US Department of Justice may step back from laying criminal charges against KPMG's US business for past sales of tax avoidance schemes to wealthy clients
US officials and KPMG, one of four largest audit firms in the world, are
discussing the possibility of a ‘deferred prosecution agreement’, which would
allow KPMG to avoid criminal proceedings by being put on probation, according to
The Washington Post.
The threat of a criminal case against the firm has sent shockwaves around the
wider financial community as well as the accountancy industry, which is only
just recovering from the collapse of former Big Five firm Arthur Andersen.
Andersen crumbled after the Justice Department charged it with obstruction of
justice in the Enron accounting scandal in 2001.
