KPMG fined for M&C Saatchi audit 'failings"

THE auditors of M&C Saatchi, the Soho ad group most closely associated with the Conservative Party, were fined £1.5 million for “serious failings” in meeting professional standards.

- Simon English

The Financial Reporting Council, the audit watchdog generally regarded as a friend of the industry, said KPMG had failed to properly oversee the firm’s finances.

M&C — known for its “Labour isn’t working” 1978 ad slogan which helped the Tories beat Labour PM James Callaghan — has had several years in the mire as its finances unravelled.

Today the FRC said KPMG’s 2018 audit of M&C “did not meet the required quality standards in a number of respects amounting to serious audit failings and breaches of audit standards”, according to Claudia Mortimore, deputy executive counsel at the FRC.