Rival urges PwC to come clean.
KPMG senior partner Mike Rake has launched an attack on PricewaterhouseCoopers over its failure to publish full financial information.
Rake, speaking as he revealed KPMG’s own annual report showing a 12% increase in fee income to #1.16bn, said PwC should come clean and publish its audited accounts.
He said: ‘We believe that other firms who are making recommendations about reporting should have a degree of transparency about their own results, and that any firm that audits 40 to 50% of the FTSE-100 should be seriously considering publishing its accounts as well.’
He highlighted the fact that PwC’s Dutch firm publishes audited accounts.
Talking about the future of KPMG’s consultancy division, Rake said the American practice was ready to float off its own division ‘at a moment’s notice’, but volatile market conditions were delaying the process.
He said the European consultancy practice was expected to follow suit within 12 months.
On its results, which cover the year to 30 September 2000, the firm said that strong growth in tax and financial advisory services was behind the increase.
While admitting the publication of his own pay packet of #1.65m was ‘highly irritating’, Rake said that publishing full results was good for the profession and set an example for others.