Silentnight enquiry – Backlash over Accountants actions

A tribunal has found that a senior partner at KPMG has presented a deceptive defence when justifying the decision to force Silentnight into administration. The partner placed Silentnight into administration, in a bid to aid a private equity firm that sought to buy the mattress merchant without the burden of its £100 million pension scheme.

1,200 Silentnight pension scheme contributors have missed out on an estimated £50million after the scheme was consequently transferred to the Pension Protection Fund.

KPMG and David Costley-Wood, former senior partner, failed to cooperate with the accounting watchdog, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), when an investigation was made into their actions. This is the first investigation made by the FRC where the defendant has been accused of being intentionally mis-leading in approach.

A £500,000 fine was issue to Costley-Wood alongside a ban from holding an insolvency license for 13 years – KPMG paid the fine on behalf of Costley-Wood.

This is not the first time KPMG have faced backlash from regulators – there is currently an investigation into their audits of Carllion, the collapsed outsourcer.

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