Yahoo Finance KPMG splits chief executive and chairman roles after Bill Michael furore
KPMG has overhauled its governance structure after losing its chairman and senior partner in the wake of controversial comments on a staff video conference.
The accounting firm announced it will split the roles of UK chairman and chief executive that were both previously held by Bill Michael during his spell as senior partner.
Bina Mehta, who was hurriedly appointed as interim chairman this month, will remain in the role for 12 months and will oversee a vote t o appoint a new chief executive to run the firm’s day-to-day business until September 2025.
Ms Mehta said: “The board has acted to ensure we continue to provide clear, long-term leadership for the firm as we deliver the next stage of our growth strategy and support our clients as the country emerges from the pandemic.”
The election for a new leader will kick off this month and voting by the firm’s 575 partners will conclude by the end of April.
In the meantime, Mary O’Connor, who heads KPMG's clients and markets division, will continue to serve as interim chief executive.
Ms Mehta said Ms O’Connor was “doing a tremendous job leading the firm during what has been a challenging period”.
The firm said that splitting the roles of chairman and chief executive was in line with industry practice. Its Big Four rival Deloitte already has a similar structure but Hywel Ball and Kevin Ellis continue to cover both positions at EY and PwC respectively.
KPMG, which is trying to sell its insolvency advisory business for about £400m, was thrown into chaos this month when Mr Michael resigned after staff backlash against comments he made on a video call.
The Australian told staff to “stop moaning” about their working conditions, said unconscious bias training is “complete c---” and allegedly said he had been meeting clients during lockdown.
The governance shake-up means Ms Mehta will not run for election as chief executive though she may find herself in pole position to win a further partner election to appoint a permanent chairman next year.
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