is one of the largest services,
Tax services, and advisory services. KPMG is a
Big 4 Accountancy Firm , along with
PricewaterhouseCoopers ,
Ernst & Young and
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu .
Each national KPMG firm is an independent legal entity and is a member of KPMG International, a
Swiss Verein headquartered in the
Netherlands . In early 2005, the United States member firm, KPMG LLP, was accused by the
United States Department Of Justice of
Fraud In Marketing Abusive Tax Shelters . Under an agreement, KPMG LLP admitted criminal wrongdoing in creating fraudulent tax shelters to help wealthy clients avoid $2.5 billion in taxes and agreed to pay $456 million in penalties in exchange for a deferred prosecution agreement. KPMG LLP will not face criminal prosecution as long as it complies with the terms of its agreement with the government.
KPMG International is led by:
- Michael D.V. Rake, Chairman, Senior Partner of KPMG in the United Kingdom;
- Michael P. Wareing, CEO, Partner of KPMG in the United Kingdom;
- John B. Harrison, Chairman-Asia Pacific Region, Partner of KPMG in China and Hong Kong;
- Timothy P. Flynn, Chairman-Americas Region, Chairman of KPMG in the United States;
- Ben van der Veer, Chairman-Europe, Middle East and Africa Region, Chairman of KPMG in the Netherlands.
- In 1911 , William Barclay Peat & Co. and Marwick Mitchell & Co. merged to form what would later be known as Peat Marwick International (PMI).
- In 1979 , Klynveld merged with Deutsche Treuhand-Gesellschaft (DTG) and McLintock Main Lafrentz to form Klynveld Main Goerdeler (KMG).
- In 1987 both firms joined forces in the first mega-merger of large accounting firms and formed .
- In 1997 , KPMG and Ernst & Young announced that they were to merge, in a maneuver largely seen as a spoiling tactic over the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand . However that merger, to form PricewaterhouseCoopers , was granted regulatory approval and the KPMG/Ernst & Young tie-up was later abandoned.
- In 2001 , KPMG divested its US consulting firm through an IPO of KPMG Consulting Inc , which is now called BearingPoint, Inc. . A song that was produced for KPMG, '' Our Vision of Global Strategy '', experienced a brief period of Internet notoriety.
- In 2002 , the UK and Dutch Consulting arms were sold to Atos Origin.
- In 2003 , KPMG divested itself of its legal arm, Klegal .
- In 2005 , KPMG LLP admitted criminal wrongdoing in multi-billion dollar Tax Shelter Fraud .
