Andy Green: Wells Fargo Fraud & KPMG

Posted by admin on Saturday, August 19, 2017

Andy Green Money Quote saying few have asked why outside auditors (KPMG) didn’t call attention to Wells Fargo fraudulent sales practices. Andy Green said:
 

 

“There’s been far too little attention since the [Wells Fargo] crisis on how the external auditors [KPMG] should be looking out for the public. They are not just bookkeepers, but the investors’, and the capital markets’ last defense against accounting manipulation and fraud” — Andy Green

 

 

In this quote, Andy Green is strongly criticizing the oversight role played by external auditing firms like KPMG in the wake of accounting scandals like those at Wells Fargo. By stating auditors should not be viewed as “just bookkeepers” but rather the “last defense” protecting investors and markets from deception, Green argues they have a higher public duty than simply verifying numbers.

He implies auditors are not fulfilling their responsibility to diligently search for impropriety if they act as passive financial statement reviewers rather than taking proactive measures to uncover intentional obfuscation or fraud. Green’s perspective conveys that auditors must serve as vigilant guardians of transparency, not just validators of ledgers.

The overall interpretation is that Green views lax auditing as enabling deception and believes stricter scrutiny is needed from these firms tasked with maintaining trust for stakeholders in financial markets.