米ＳＥＣ、不適切な銀行監査でＫＰＭＧのパートナーらを告発（THOMSON REUTERSより）

SEC charges KPMG auditors at failed Nebraska bank

ひとつ下の記事ではＥ＆Ｙを取り上げましたが、こちらは、ＫＰＭＧのパートナーとシニアマネジャーが、ネブラスカ州の破綻した銀行の監査を適切に実施しなかったとして、ＳＥＣから告発されたという記事。2007年から2009年にかけての金融危機の際の役割をめぐって監査人がＳＥＣから告発される最初の例だそうです。

U.S. regulators on Wednesday accused a partner and a manager at accounting firm KPMG of failing to properly audit the books of a failed Nebraska bank, the first time auditors have faced federal securities charges over their roles during the 2007-2009 financial crisis.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking to censure KPMG partner John Aesoph, 40, and senior manager Darren Bennett, 35, alleging they failed to properly scrutinize the books of Nebraska-based TierOne Bank. The institution collapsed under the weight of loan losses during the financial crisis.

As part of Wednesday's action, the SEC plans to ask an administrative judge to consider barring the two auditors, either temporarily or permanently, from practicing before the commission.

ＳＥＣのプレスリリースです。厳しいことをいっています。
↓
SEC Charges Two KPMG Auditors for Failed Audit of Nebraska Bank Hiding Loan Losses During Financial Crisis

「2人の監査人は銀行による担保価値の見積りを形式的に承認し、銀行の問題不動産貸付をめぐる危険信号を無視した」と批判しています。

“Aesoph and Bennett merely rubber-stamped TierOne’s collateral value estimates and ignored the red flags surrounding the bank’s troubled real estate loans,” said Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “Auditors must adhere to professional auditing standards and exercise due diligence rather than merely relying on management’s representations.”