One of my bosses once said, “If I get involved in your dispute, neither of you will like the outcome. Sort it out yourselves.”

That line has stayed with me for decades. It’s exactly the choice facing the Big Four accounting firms right now, as their carefully manufactured trust reputations come apart in public.

KPMG Australia refused to sort it out itself. As a result, under pressure, in June 2026, chairman Martin Sheppard and audit partners Paul Rogers and Eileen Hoggett announced they would leave KPMG Australia, following the earlier exits of CEO Andrew Yates and audit head Julian McPherson.

A parliamentary committee had just heard whistleblower allegations that staff used confidential Optus information to help win a rival Telstra audit tender, and used Lendlease board papers to support other bids too.

Interim chief executive Stan Stavros summed it up simply: “We did not meet the standards expected of us.”

That admission came late. And lateness, more than the original failure, usually decides how long a crisis runs.

KPMG isn’t alone. It’s the same probity failure that ended PwC’s 2022 tax scandal. EY has made its own headlines, with graduate staff using privileged access to uncover the Prime Minister’s personal banking details.

While the public sees “rotten to the core”, the Department of Finance has placed more than $270m in KPMG government contracts under review.

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said the scandal was prompting a fresh look at reform options, including capping partner numbers and bringing the Big Four under the Corporations Act.

Treasury has gone further, releasing an Options Paper that floats breaking up the firms altogether, with ASIC replacing........

© Mumbrella