PwC is Goldman Sachs' auditor,;PwC appointed by the Malaysian Govt to examine Goldman Sachs 1MDB transactions

by Ganesh Sahathevan

From Goldman Sachs 2017 Annual Report:


We were appointed by the directors on August 10, 1982 to audit the financial statements for the period ended November 25, 1983 and subsequent financial periods. The period of total uninterrupted engagement is 35 years, covering the periods ended November 25, 1983 to December 31, 2017. 


Nick Morrison (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors London March 29, 2018


Despite that history, Malaysia's new government and Minister for Finance announced last year:

Newly appointed auditor for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has completed its preliminary report and the Government plans to make the final report public, according to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

In a press conference at Parliament today, Lim said the preliminary report gathered that 1MDB did not comply with basic corporate governance or management principles.

“From what we gathered in PWC's preliminary report, basic good corporate governance or management principles were not complied with. We want to make this public — people have the right to know — but let us get it done properly first, it is a preliminary report,” he said.

The Minister's confidence in PwC's work is touching, but one must ask why this obvious, blatant conflict has not been made better known to the Malaysian public.

Also, it is no excuse to say that PwC is the only auditor in Malaysia untainted by 1MDB.There are other firms who can, and are better known  in the business of forensic audits and investigations.

END

References

From Sarawak Report

Don't Ask Us! - KPMG Global's Astonishing Response on 1MDB

• 24 March 2015
   
• 15

1MDB is not anything to do with us – Global Chief of KPMG, John Veihmeyer

For weeks the mantra of the chairman of 1MDB’s governing Advisory Board (Malaysia’s Prime Minister) has been that the management of the fund has been ‘cleared’, because the accounts were ‘forensically’ audited by international accountancy firms of global standing.

The firms who have given 1MDB clean bills of health have been the Malaysia branches of the accountancy giants Deloitte and KPMG.

Malaysia’s top team at KPMG – no accountability to HQ?

However, last week Sarawak Report demonstrated evidence pointing to a series of sharp practices on the part of KPMG during the audit process for the year ending March 2010.

These enabled 1MDB to conceal the loss of USD$700 million, which was the sum siphoned out of its joint venture with the little known oil company PetroSaudi.

Following this expose, the Sydney-based Malaysian investigative financial journalist, Ganesh Sahathevan, directly challenged the Global Chairman of the company, John Veihmeyer, to give his response to the allegations.

Sahathevan asked whether KPMG Global had been aware of any of the transactions relating to 1MDB outlined in the expose?  He added that:

“much of what has been reported was in the public domain since at least 2014, and hence there is also the question of why the Global Board took no action despite that fact?”

KPMG’s international image – a massive global firm

The rapid response Sahathevan received from KPMG merits reading in full, because it puts paid to any assumptions that a local branch of this ‘global network’ of accountancy firms can be relied upon to maintain any sort of acceptable standard laid down by a central authority.

The General Counsel (top lawyer) for Mr Veihmeyer states that the corporate headquarters has no involvement in the matter, because the KPMG network represents nothing more than a ‘Swiss Cooperative’ of happy Helvetic brand sharers.

In short, he explains, no one at HQ is responsible for what their fellow franchise holders get up to. They are just there to help and advise when required.

Dear Mr Sahathevan

I refer to your email below addressed to Mr John Veihmeyer, Global Chairman, KPMG International Cooperative (KPMG International).

I am the General Counsel of KPMG International and am responding on behalf of Mr Veihmeyer.

KPMG International is a Swiss Cooperative. Member firms of the KPMG network of independent firms are affiliated with KPMG International. KPMG International provides no client services. No member firm has any authority to obligate or bind KPMG International or any other member firm vis-à-vis third parties, nor does KPMG International have any such authority to bind or obligate any member firm.

KPMG International does not have any relationship with, or connection to, 1MDB”.

Yours faithfully

Tom Wethered

Malaysians and others, who had assumed that accreditation by KPMG represented some form of guarantee of high standards; quality control; centralised monitoring and disciplinary process to ensure high standards of accountancy practice must therefore stand disappointed.

According to KPMG’s top legal eagle, theirs is a form of franchise that has its cake and eats it at the same time.

Name bearers get to carry the brand, but without any form of accountability whatsoever:

“nor does KPMG International have any such authority to bind or obligate any member firm” [Tom Wethered]

Franchise without accountability?

If a Malaysian were to find dog meat in his McDonald’s burger in KL, he would expect to receive some response from the company HQ from under its golden arches in California – and doubtless he would.

By contrast, if KPMG Malaysia assists in the cover-up of a billion dollar heist of public money, it turns out that their global HQ in Amsterdam merely refers you to the cantons of Switzerland and their company’s new corporate structure, which is accountability free.

Having their cake and eating it 

Mr Wethered’s response that “KPMG International does not have any relationship with, or connection to, 1MDB”  represents a stark contrast, however, with the firm’s own publicity material.

The KPMG website and numerous articles make reference instead to the guarantee of quality that their brand lends to its affiliates across the world.

KPMG’s own website, under the banner line “Acting With Integrity”, declares:

“KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. We have more than 155,000 outstanding professionals working together to deliver value in 155 countries worldwide.”

On the other hand, scrutiny of this KPMG website soon makes plain that behind the fine words and sentiments there is indeed what appears to be a significant dearth of actual governance in this corporate structure:

ABOVE ALL, WE ACT WITH INTEGRITY

We are constantly striving to uphold the highest professional standards, provide sound advice and rigorously maintain our independence….

The KPMG Global website concedes that its Head Officers provide policies, even regulations. But, there is no mention of enforcement.

The Global Board is the principal governance and oversight body. The key responsibilities of the Board include approving long-term strategy, protecting and enhancing the KPMG brand, and approving policies and regulations

There is no single line of accountability within the organisation.

Leadership

Internationally, the affairs of KPMG are the responsibility of several bodies.

Aspirations, but can they be enforced?

The controls that would lead the third party readers of its audit reports to feel comforted that quality control is enforced, appear to be missing, as indicated by the letter sent by KMPG’s top counsel.

Although there is a deluge of information about the values and quality that this network of affiliated firms is “striving to achieve”, there seems to be a lack of clear accountability within the structure of the organisation.

Without accountability and enforcement structures the high values and claims of integrity that pack out KPMG’s corporate messaging are surely effectively meaningless?

What better example than this latest abdication of responsibility over the scandal of 1MDB?

KPMG’s Positive PR

The legal counsel of KPMG seems therefore to be entirely correct in his statement that the global headquarters can wash its hands entirely of this little fracas over in Malaysia.

Star Interview with former Global Head Michael Andrew presented a very different state of affairs.

Yet, as Mr Sahathevan and others suggest, this is not the public face of the company.

Certainly, the ‘Swiss Cooperative’s’ corporate PR does not accurately represent this state of affairs and basic lack of governance.

Take for example the recent ‘Up Close And Personal’ article by Malaysia’s Star Newspaper about the role of the recently retired Global Chairman of KPMG.

In his interview Mr Andrew told the Star that clients in KL had the right to expect the same level of service as in Europe.

He also said that the company upheld its “duty to the broader community”:

KPMG’s brand, Andrew says, is all about being independent and objective because the firm and its employees has a public interest of responsibility to the broader community.

“We have to ensure that we uphold the governance standards in every country for our multi-national clients. They expect the same standards in Kuala Lumpur as they do in Johannesburg, Frankfurt or New York,” he says.

He adds that corporate governance defines the KPMG brand. “If we don’t meet the governance standards, then people won’t have confidence in our business. Integrity is at the heart of everything we do.

“This is ensuring that we understand that our duty is to the broader community than just to any particular client or particular transaction. Because if we do some work, which turns out to be incorrect, it’ll affect our global brand,” he says.

Every three months, KPMG employees are required to sign a declaration to maintain their independence around their audit clients. [The Star Online 10th Aug 2013]

However, despite that commitment to the broader community, in the case of 1MDB the public was never informed about the siphoning of $700 million in public funds out of the fund, thanks to KPMG Malaysia’s accountancy practices.

And now it turns out that KPMG Global regards itself as having no responsibility at all in the matter.

Were it to be more widely recognised that KPMG Global exerts so little quality control over its branches, the reputation on which this ‘cooperative’ relies might very well lose a lot of its lustre.

Now would be a good time for Yang Ariff Daryl Goon to explain his endorsement of the Malaysian Applied Law LLM

by Ganesh Sahathevan

Yang Ariff Goon has yet to provide answers.

realpolitikasia

Saturday, August 18, 2018

YA Daryl Goon , the Malaysian Applied Law LLM ,and YAA Richard Malanjum

by Ganesh Sahathevan

MASTER OF LAWS (APPLIED LAW) IN MALAYSIAN LEGAL PRACTICE

This writer has spent much time this week, and the last praying that the newly appointed Yang Ariff Daryl Goon might condescend to explain why he has has endorsed something called the Master of Laws (Applied Law) in Malaysian Legal Practice.

Goon has been asked to explain given the fact that this LLM (and indeed no others) have been approved by the Legal Profession Qualifying Board..

The Malaysian Bar Council seems to have played some part in promoting the course (see below) but its President and Secretary have refused numerous requests  for information about what

approvals if any the Malaysian Bar Council had obtained to promote the course in Malaysia.

The course website , hosted by the private college in Australia that manages the course (with a faculty of one person) shows prominently the Bar Council's logo. YA Daryl Goon is listed among its advisers. 

The private college also claims that it produced in 1985-86 the first group of "elite" law graduates from MARA who were admitted to practice in Malaysia. This does come as a bit of surprise to this writer and others like him who know and know of Malaysian lawyers who graduated from MARA in the 1970s. In the latter category (for I do not know him personally) is the current Chief Justice , YAA Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, who graduated in 1973.

One hopes that the newly minted YA will at least  have an explanation for his YAA. 

END

The questions (see below) remain despite this promotion by the Bar Council Malaysia:

e

Circular No 147/2017

Dated 11 July 2017n 

To Members of the Malaysian Bar

Providing Assistance to The College of Law, Australia | Development of Localised Master

of Laws Programme

The Bar Council Malaysia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The College of

Law, Australia and New Zealand in order to create further legal education and training platforms

for the benefit of Members of the Bar.

In this regard, The College of Law is interested to localise the content of its existing Australian

Master of Laws (“LLM”) in Applied Law programme for Malaysia, and is interested in working

with Members of the Bar who have relevant legal research and writing, and practical legal

experience. This is to be carried out on a project basis, and the Members will be remunerated.

The first six subjects in this new LLM programme are near completion and will be offered in

September 2017 as part of a new LLM (Applied Law) with a major in Malaysian Legal Practice.

The next 11 LLM subjects that The College of Law is interested in localising are listed below:

(1)

Advocacy;

(2)

Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice;

(3)

Arbitration.

(4)

Banking and Finance;

(5)

Family Law Practice;

(6)

Intellectual Property Practice;

(7)

Islamic Banking and Finance;

(8)

Mediation;

(9)

Mergers and Acquisitions Practice;

(10) Negotiation; and

(11) Wills, Estates and Trusts.

If you are interested in pursuing this opportunity, please send your expression of interest together

with your detailed resume and any queries, directly to:

Peter Tritt

Director | Asia-Pacific

The College of Law Australia and New Zealand

Level 23, Nu Tower 2

Jalan Tun Sambanthan,

50470 Kuala Lumpur

Email: ptritt@collaw.edu.au

Mobile: +6013 305 7660

Thank you.

Roger Chan Weng Keng

Secretary

Malaysian Bar

NZ's Jacinta Ardern can show real kindness by helping Malaysia recover stolen 1MDB money laundered via New Zealand

by Ganesh Sahathevan


This was NZ PM Jacinta Ardern at the World Economic Forum ,Davos




“The Wellbeing Budget will broaden the Budget’s focus beyond
 economic and fiscal policy by using the Treasury’s Living Standards 
Framework to inform the Government’s investment priorities and 
funding decisions. The Government will measure and report against a broader 
set of indicators to show a more rounded measure of success, as a country 
and as a Government.”
(see Budget 2019: Focus on wellbeing)

Meanwhile, from Sarawak Report:

Australia And New Zealand Slide From Their Responsibilities Over Mass Corruption In Malaysia

And these issues remain unresolved,despite being on the public record for at least two years:


JAN 27 2017

NZ judge Kit Toogood who allowed Low family its escape has a colourful history that demands NZ Government intervention in the matter 

by Ganesh Sahathevan

It has been previously reported on this blog that New Zealand lawyers,banks may be laundering money stolen from Malaysia's 1MDB but the NZ Government chooses to do nothing despite the highly publicized facts.

Now it can be shown that the Kiwi judge who heard the Low family's application to replace their trustees, and reclaim assets the US Department Of Justice says were acquired with funds stolen from 1MDB, has himself a history that demanded NZ Government intervention to ensure New Zealand's international AML/CTF obligations were not breached.

Mr Justice Christopher (Kit) Holden Toogood has a history that even Malaysia's judges would find embarrassing.

END

TOOGOOD, Christopher (Kit) Holden

High Court Justice Kit Toogood

Professional Data: 2010 Judge Survey Score (1-10): 7.1   Ranking (out of 63):  52nd
Postion & Titles:	Queen’s Counsel Member Arbitrators’ & Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand Member Serious Fraud Office Prosecutors Panel Arbitrator, Court of Arbitration for Sport Chairman – Auckland Theatre Company
Judge of:	High Court, Auckland, since March 2011		Auckland
Specializations and Professional Interests:	Commercial and civil litigation; employment and industrial law advice and dispute resolution; sports law; arbitration and mediation; protecting his mates and padding his pockets.
Professional Comments:	(Supplied by the Judge): Justice Kit Toogood QC has 38 years litigation experience. He is a former Deputy Chair of the New Zealand Sports Tribunal. Kit Toogood QC is a provider of strategic advice to major corporations and government departments on employment issues, including contract negotiation; restructuring; superannuation and benefits; termination of employment; and legislative compliance. He has accepted numerous appointments as arbitrator and mediator in sports-related, employment and other civil disputes, and is frequently called upon by commercial and not-for-profit organisations to provide advice on governance issues and compliance programmes. (Law Society info): Beginning in the late 1980’s, Kit Toogood developed a propensity for legal faux pas’s which often put him on the wrong side of the law.  He acted in a conflict of interest, representing a Waitomo Hotel employee grievance as well as the Tourist Hotel Corporation defence, but the Law Society gave him a pass on that one.  He then sent a letter to MP Winston Peters which threatened the Member over what he might say in Parliament; an act that brought Toogood up on a contempt of Parliament charge before the Privileges Committee.  Contempt of Parliament is the most serious offence in a democracy.  Committee Member Bill Birch told the New Zealand Herald that Kit Toogood “was largely saved by his counsel” and “he escaped by the skin of his teeth”. Christopher ‘Kit’ Toogood’s laziness then got him in trouble with clients, once resulting in Telecom dropping him as counsel after he missed important deadlines which invoked costs awards.  In one employment mediation in the 1990’s, Mediator Caffrey restrained Toogood from physically assaulting barrister Tony Ellis. (Kiwisfirst): Justice Kit Toogood fancies the finer things in life to a flaw.  Toogood sought appointment almost entirely for the prestige of the position and in order to qualify for a judicial pension in a few years when he reaches mandatory court retirement age, then retire and command higher compensation as a (former High Court Judge) arbitrator.   This is not a knock of Toogood, but rather symptomatic of how judicial appointments are made in New Zealand. Since his appointment Justice Toogood has demonstrated a lackadaisical approach to his judicial duties, clearly finding the rudimentary tasks of judging – such as reading the case files and writing a coherent judgment in cases he is disinterested in – boring and unnecessary.   This proclivity frequently spells disaster for those who have the misfortune of expecting justice before him.  Too often Justice Kit Toogood “wings it” from the bench.  He can take many months to issue rulings and this flaw has caused angst among many who appear before him. Paradoxically, he has been known to make oral rulings before hearing submissions or reading the relevant documents.  Combine this with Toogood J’s propensity for “creative writing” and one can get the impression his judgment relates to an entirely different case on occasion.  It has been said his novel interpretation of law and facts fits Kit Toogood’s physical resemblance to Humpty Dumpty. Justice Toogood has shown himself to be a law onto himself.  In a 2012 judicial review of the Judicial Conduct Commissioner CIV2012-404-646 [2012] NZHC 1481, Toogood J summarily dismissed the judicial review on application of the Commissioner despite a defence which disputed the pleaded facts, stating the Commissioner’s role of protecting judicial independence was paramount to a fair process, and this included refusing to conduct the mandatory examination of complaints of judicial misconduct required by section 15 of his governing statute (Judicial Conduct Commissioner and Judicial Panel Act 2004). In CIV2005-404-1808 [2013] NZHC 301, Toogood J ordered that his judgment could not be subject to a recall application, directing the Registrar not to accept any application which might be attempted, thereby negating the long-established authority Horowhenua County v Nash (No 2) [1968] NZLR 632 (NZSC). In a February 2013 rape trial, Justice Toogood allowed the Crown to present a past rape conviction of the accused to the jury, calling it relevant “propensity evidence” – an action which brought praise from the Sensible Sentencing Trust and public concern from the New Zealand Law Society. In December 2014, 13 months after the trial concluded, Toogood J issued his reasons for refusing application to disqualify himself on grounds he claimed in a public judgment four months earlier that the plaintiff had defamed him – Toogood asserting as his reasons that the public would agree with his finding he had been defamed ([2014] NZHC 3175). In the 2014 equity case Zhang v Zhai ([2014] NZHC 1026) Toogood required the defendants first prove their defence to an application for specific performance of an 11-year old contract for purchase of an Auckland home where the plaintiff admitted he never tendered the purchase price per the 2003 contract.  In his reserved ruling Toogood determined the plaintiff’s contract breach was not a breach because such a tender would have been “futile” despite no evidence or pleadings relying upon this excuse. In July 2016, the New Zealand Herald and New Zealand Justice Forum exposed that Justice Toogood was presiding over an appeal by Affco against an Employment Court ruling that rights of seasonal meatworkers were preserved in the off-season, a decision that overturned a precedent-setting case from 1992 that Toogood was counsel for. Toogood J has wasted no time and never hesitated in protecting “those who got him there” since his appointment to judge, no doubt setting the stage for “repeat business” upon hanging out his arbitration shingle after retirement. Sadly, Toogood J’s eagerness for his retirement is exceeded only by those who appear before him.
Background / Education:	Hails from Bankside Chambers in Auckland.  Before that, Justice Toogood was a partner with Kensington Swan, from 1985 to 1990.Justice Toogood graduated from Victoria University of Wellington in 1972 and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor the following year.  After 18 years as a litigation lawyer, he joined the independent bar in 1990 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1999. Judge Toogood’s full CV available here.
Degrees:	LLB Victoria University, 1972
Admitted to the Bar:	1973
Company Involvements:	AUCKLAND THEATRE COMPANY LIMITED (545448) – Director Appointed 12 Feb 2003 IT’S IN THE BAG LIMITED (2277952) – Director  Appointed 14 Jul 2009 IT’S IN THE BAG (INTERNATIONAL) LIMITED (2277966) – Director Closely tied to the Business Avisory Group Limited, an accountancy advisory partnership in Auckland
Personal Data
Born:	1948 New Zealand	Sex:	Male
Married:	19	Children:
Interesting Relationships and Coincidences:	Justice Toogood’s personal interests include Sport, performing arts, fine arts, music, wine & food
Miscellaneous:	Lives in Remuera, Auckland.  Son of 1980’s ‘It’s in the Bag’ game show host Selwyn Toogood.

Related Posts:

Posted 27th January 2017 by Anonymous

NSW AG Speakman SC invites prosecution of Muslim apostates in Australia by Muslim governments,NGOs from anywhere in the world.

by Ganesh Sahathevan

NSW AG Speakerman's religious exclusions an

election issue ;his Dept Of Justice Secretary

 Cappie-Wood must not interfere in the coming

 election to defend or promote Speakerman

In yet another breathtaking demonstration of his legal skills the Attorney General NSW Mark Speakman SC has declared that the has the power to prosecute in NSW, anyone, anywhere in Australia and the world, against whom a complaint is made pursuant to the quite wide provisions of the Anti-Discrimination Act NSW (see below article from The Australian, 31 January 2019).

Australia has, until now, provided a safe haven for opponents of many of Asia's Islamic statutory bodies and state-linked NGOs.

A case in point are the members of the secret ex-Muslim network in Australia, whose words reported by the ABC would be perceived to be offensive to Muslims in even moderate Malaysia. Many like them who have sought refuge in Australia so that they might express their beliefs ((or lack of belief) without fear of state prosecution and persecution are now vulnerable to complaints made against them by agents and others sponsored by the respective states in NSW pursuant to the provisions of the NSW Discrimination Act.Indeed, there is nothing to prevent the states concerned from making the complaints themselves. Race and religion are almost synonymous in for example Malaysia,so as to make the exclusion of discrimination on religious grounds in NSW meaningless.

END 

State anti-discrimination law ‘applies to all Aussies’

EXCLUSIVE
NICOLA BERKOVIC
LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT
@NicBerko

The  Australian

JANUARY 31, 2019

NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman says the state’s anti-discrimination laws apply to people outside NSW, prompting a warning Australians could find themselves dragged before legal bodies in multiple states because of comments they make online.

Mr Speakman has intervened in a long-running dispute ­between Queensland-based former army officer Bernard Gaynor and NSW gay rights activist Garry Burns.

Mr Gaynor, now a conser­vative Christian blogger, has been hit with about 36 complaints from Mr Burns, filed with the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board, over comments on his blog and Facebook page. Mr Gaynor says he has so far spent about $250,000 on legal fees defending the complaints of alleged homosexual vilification or victimisation.

The father of eight has asked the NSW ­Supreme Court to prevent the Anti-Discrimination Board, the NSW Civil and ­Administrative Tribunal and the NSW Local Court from dealing with any ­existing or future complaints against him. He argues the bodies have no jurisdiction to deal with the complaints because he is a Queensland resident.

However, the Attorney-General has argued, in submissions filed with the NSW Supreme Court, that the state’s anti-­discrimination laws are not confined to NSW residents.

“There is nothing in the text or context of the Anti-Discrimination Act which suggests that persons who are not residents of NSW are immune from having a ‘complaint’ made against them under that act,” the submissions say.

Mr Gaynor said if Mr Speakman’s arguments were ­accepted, any Australian who commented on issues such as same-sex marriage or the Safe Schools program could be dragged before each state and territory’s legal system. “They could have done nothing wrong in their own state but face costly litigation in others,” he said.

“If NSW succeeds, there will be a significant chilling effect on free speech and every Australian will need to be careful that their speech is not just lawful where they live, but in places where they don’t and cannot cast a vote.”

Institute of Public Affairs research fellow Morgan Begg said: “What the NSW Attorney-­General is saying here is incredibly dangerous. We would see an ­explosion in litigation.”

Will KPMG International be "EnRoned"? : Fallout from Malaysia's 1 MDB scandal may cost KPMG USD 10 billion,maybe more?

by Ganesh Sahathevan 

Current KPMG head office in Amstelveen, The Netherlands

By DennisM - Own work, CC0, 

Malaysia 's Securities Commission has finally, it seems, decided to investigate KPMG with regards the 1MDB theft:

KPMG and Deloitte under investigation for role in 1MDB corruption scandale

The international  partnership should not consider itself immune.as this writer pointed out in an article posted on 29 March 2015(see below).

END 

Is KPMG International being "EnRoned"? : Fallout from Malaysia's 1 MDB scandal may cost KPMG USD 10 billion 

A new verb, "Enron-ed" was coined by John M. Cunningham, the former Arthur Andersen Director in the Seattle Office, to describe the demise of Arthur Andersen.

KPMG International ,the Swiss Cooperative under which KPMG partnerships worldwide come together to offer audit and other services under the direction of a Global Executive Leadership Team,  has found itself entangled in Malaysia's 1 MDB sovereign wealth fund scandal.

It appears that in managing the crisis it now faces, KPMG may be managing its 1 MDB documents in a manner similar to  Arthur Andersen and its  documents related to the  Enron assignment which led to the effective demise of that firm which was once considered the gold standard in auditing.

The Sarawak Report website that has in recent weeks published 1 MDB emails that reveal gross financial impropriety,  recently published email correspondence between 1 MDB and its former auditor, the KPMG partnership in Malaysia,where KPMG has been shown to provide directions  on how 1 MDB's books should be 
re- presented in order to receive an unqualified audit opinion. 

1 MDB is now unable to repay its loans worth USD 10 billion and counting, and it is likely that the company will be liquidated, with its debts assumed by the Malaysian Government which has effectively guaranteed 1 MDB's borrowing.

KPMG International has been queried about its potential liability for the possible if not probable  civil and criminal claims arising from the 1 MDB scandal, and its general counsel Tom Whetered has insisted that the Cooperative offers no client services and has nothing to do with 1 MDB.

However that is a denial based on form for everything in substance says otherwise. To begin with, KPMG International counts as its revenue fees from the Malaysian partnership,and that will include fees from the 1 MDB assignment. In fact its  recently retired chairman , Michael Andrews,  identified Malaysia as a target market for growth when he took on that role.

Then the Singapore managing partner Sai Choy Tham, who is also a member of KPMG International's Global Executive Team , is also Regional Head of Audit, South East Asia.  Mr Tham has been queried about his communication with the KL office with regards the 1 MDB emails revealed by Sarawak Report,and has been asked specifically if communications in the past weeks has included directions about the management of 1 MDB documents. He has refused to confirm or deny that he has issued  directions in that regard, in his capacity as Regional Head Of Audit and member of the KPMG Global Executive Team.
The queries put to Mr Tham were also put to KPMG International chairman John Veihmeyer, who has also chosen to remain silent.

Meanwhile ,KPMG's  partners in Malaysia have , in response to the Sarawak Report expose, insisted that all they have done they have done in accordance with international accounting standards.
Each of the Big 4 has its own auditing procedures that are considered proprietary, and in insisting that the 1 MDB audit was executed in accordance with international standards the partners in Malaysia are really saying that they have acted in accordance with KPMG International's established norms and procedures.
Put in another way, the Malaysian partners are insisting that they have acted  as directed by KPMG International, even as KPMG International seeks to distance itself from them.
END

Posted 29th March 2015 by Anonymous

  

India & PM Modi paid for Dato Seri Dr Anwar to come to India and lecture them on IT,AI ,the Digital Economy.........

by Ganesh Sahathevan

I will not say more, for fear of detracting from the great man's words.Having said that, readers are asked to consider who is paying for what, and when delivery is expected. 

END 

Happy Russian Orthodox Christmas

Patriarch Kirill of Russia

5 hrs ·

"Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will"

TO ALL MY READERS FROM RUSSIA