KPMG’s 40 Years Auditing Abrdn Is Plenty, Thanks: Chris Hughes

KPMG LLP audited Aberdeen Asset Management for 32 years before its client merged with Standard Life. Now, the Big Four accounting firm is in its eighth year on the vowel-phobic money manager the deal created, Abrdn Plc.

A short interlude between the two gigs does little to change the impression that the asset manager is setting a bad example here on the serious issue of auditor independence.

The Edinburgh-based company’s latest annual report does set out the lengthy relationship more transparently than in previous years. KPMG was auditor to the Aberdeen of old from its client’s founding in 1983 through 2015. ...