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Pounds 1.5bn HOLE IN CO-OP SLAMMED ; CITY DESK [Mirror (UK)]
[October 23, 2014]

Pounds 1.5bn HOLE IN CO-OP SLAMMED ; CITY DESK [Mirror (UK)]


(Mirror (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) MPs have criticised accounting giant KPMG over the near collapse of the Co-operative Bank.

The Treasury Select Committee said a Pounds 1.5billion black hole in the lender's finances should have been spotted earlier.

The crisis forced the Co-op to pull out of a deal to buy 632 bank branches from its high street rival Lloyds.

In its report, the committee said there were questions over whether KPMG, which was handling the Co-op accounts, should have noticed there was a problem.

The MPs also looked at KPMG's role in the Co-op Bank's takeover of the Britannia building society which, it said, triggered its financial headache.



The committee did not, however, find evidence of political interference in Lloyds' dealing with the Co-op.

The Lloyds branches were later renamed TSB and floated on the stock market.


The role of KPMG is already being investigated by the industry regulator KPMG hit back, saying: "As the former auditor to the bank, we believe that we have provided robust audits, which challenged the judgements and disclosures proposed by the bank's management." (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved.

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