KPMG's U.S. business has offered to publish annual accounts if lawmakers provide auditors with protection against potentially catastrophic negligence claims, according to a published report.
KPMG LLP chief executive Eugene O'Kelly told the Financial Times this week that he was considering the case for issuing annual accounts, adding that action by lawmakers to limit auditors' liability could make the move possible.
The article noted that U.S. accounting firms have been privately criticized by regulators for not being more transparent about their finances because they only give details of their annual revenues, while their sister accounting businesses in the United Kingdom, for example, publish accounts.
KPMG's U.S. arm last year released the details of private conclusions reached by regulators who scrutinized its audit work. In January, the Big Four firm revealed some limited information about U.S. partners' incomes.
"I would be prepared to take it from that [information on partners' income] to a full set of accounts, if that was the gate to achieve the goal [of liability reform]," O'Kelly reportedly told the FT.
