ANZ Drops KPMG Australia as Auditor After 57 Years

ANZ Group Holdings said on October 2 it will tender its external audit without KPMG, ending a relationship that began in 1969 and putting a new firm in place from the 2029 financial year.

The decision makes ANZ the latest large client to leave KPMG Australia since allegations emerged in March that the firm misused confidential client information to win audit work. The bank did not mention the allegations in its statement.

For finance teams and audit committees in the UK, the US and the EU, the case is a live test of how far client confidence can move audit appointments. Rotation rules usually set the timetable. Here, boards in Australia are moving ahead of it.

KPMG Australia ANZ auditor: what the bank said

The Melbourne-based lender said it “will commence a competitive tender process” for its external auditor. ANZ said KPMG’s 57 years in the role “is no longer considered appropriate and has been under consideration by the Board for some time.”

ANZ intends to name a replacement by the end of April 2027. The new firm’s services start in the 2029 financial year.

“Given the tenure of the incumbent provider, KPMG will not be eligible to participate in the tender process,” ANZ said.

A KPMG spokesperson declined to comment, Bloomberg News reported.

ANZ cites tenure, not the scandal. The two cannot be separated in the market’s eyes, but the bank’s stated reason is a routine one, and the timing sits within a long tender window.

Why the KPMG Australia ANZ auditor change matters

ANZ is one of Australia’s four largest banks. Losing it removes a flagship financial services audit from KPMG Australia’s books for good, because the exclusion applies to the tender itself.

The loss follows others. Macquarie Group reversed a decision to hire KPMG as its auditor in August. Insurance Australia Group said this month it will tender for a new auditor without inviting KPMG, which has served the insurer since its 2000 listing.

Lendlease Corp. has also decided to drop the firm’s services. The property group was at the centre of the original allegations.

Together, the departures show clients treating the allegations as a reason to reopen audit appointments that previously ran on autopilot. Audit committees in other markets will note that several of these moves cite governance, not performance.

The allegations behind the departures

The allegations came to light in March 2026 through Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill. They centre on confidential Lendlease board papers that were allegedly used to support KPMG audit bids with Westpac and the real estate company Dexus, International Accounting Bulletin reported.

KPMG first conducted an internal review and said it could not verify any misconduct. It then appointed the law firm Allens to carry out an external investigation.

The firm has since refreshed its leadership and published a plan to improve its governance. The matter has been the subject of several parliamentary inquiries this year, including an 11-hour public hearing in June at which KPMG leaders, Lendlease executives and ASIC officials gave evidence.

The ABC reported in September that KPMG cut about 400 jobs after the scandal. A whistleblower told the inquiry that ASIC had to be “dragged” to investigate, the ABC reported.

Regulators and penalties so far

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has opened a formal investigation covering three KPMG registered company auditors. Two have been named as Paul Rogers and Eileen Hoggett. The third has not been identified.

ASIC chair Sarah Court said the inquiry “is an ever-moving feast at the moment as more information comes our way.” That suggests the scope could widen beyond the three auditors.

No penalty has been announced. KPMG Australia has not been fined over the conduct, and ASIC has not announced findings.

The Tax Practitioners Board has drawn scrutiny of a different kind. Its chair, Peter de Cure, spent 25 years as a KPMG partner, a connection raised in the parliamentary process. The ABC’s reporting does not describe any Tax Practitioners Board enforcement action against the firm.

KPMG has faced regulatory trouble elsewhere. The UK’s Financial Reporting Council fined KPMG £1.25 million for audit breaches in a separate case. Audit clients in every market now read such actions as part of a firm’s risk profile.

What comes next for KPMG Australia

KPMG is investing in the audit technology that clients now ask about. It has begun a pilot of next-generation audit agents, but no technology programme answers a question about how client information is handled inside a firm.

The fate of KPMG’s other large Australian listed clients is the next measure. ANZ will name its new auditor by the end of April 2027, and ASIC has given no date for the conclusion of its investigation.